Comelec proclaims remaining 3 of 12 newly elected senators

(Updated 1 p.m.) The Comelec on Tuesday morning proclaimed the winners of the last three of the 12 spots in the Senate – former senator Sergio Osmeña III, incumbent Senator Manuel Lapid, and Bukidnon Rep. Teofisto Guingona III. Despite the pending vacancy created by the election of Sen. Noynoy Aquino, the Comelec said it will not proclaim a 13th senator. The Comelec – sitting as the NBOC – said Osmeña held on to 10th place with 11,583,854 votes (as of late Monday), while Lapid and Guingona remained at 11th and 12th place, with 10,971,045 and 10,200,293 votes respectively. Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia “Risa" Hontiveros-Baraquel remained at 13th place with 9,041,494 votes. Behind Hontiveros are Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano “Ruffy" Biazon with 8,566,631 votes and Jose de Venecia III with 8,317,528 votes. They ranked 14th and 15th, respectively. On Saturday afternoon, the poll body proclaimed nine of the 12 senators, namely: • BONG REVILLA, Ramon (Lakas-Kampi) - 19,414,795 votes (as of Monday afternoon) • ESTRADA, Jose (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) - 18,842,717 votes • DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO, Miriam of the People's Reform Party (PRP) - 17,230,051 votes • DRILON, Franklin of the Liberal Party (LP) - 15,764,639 votes • ENRILE, Juan Ponce (PMP) - 15,577,837 votes • CAYETANO, Pilar Juliana of Nacionalista Party (NP) - 13,583,810 votes • MARCOS, Ferdinand Jr. (NP) - 13,098,254 votes • RECTO, Ralph (LP) - 12,344,675 votes • SOTTO, Vicente III of the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) - 11,838,317 votes Saturday's proclamation was based on 115 certificates of canvass (COC). There are a total of 274 COCs, 171 of which are from the overseas absentee voting. On the other hand, Tuesday's proclamation was based on 121 canvassed COCs or 37,685,706 votes or 75.2 percent of the 50,086,054 registered voters. Comelec chairman Jose Melo, reading NBOC Resolution 10-004, said that only the provincial COCs for the province of Lanao del Sur and some areas with lowered canvassing thresholds have yet to be canvassed. "The remaining votes that have not yet been received by the canvassing and consolidation system (CCS) of the NBOC will not materially affect the votes obtained by the 10th to the 12th ranking winning candidates for senator," he said. Newcomers Only Lapid and Guingona were present during the proclamation Tuesday. Osmeña's legal counsel Sixto Brillantes said that his client does not usually attend such events. Guingona, for his part, was excited to attend the proclamation because it will be his first time to hold a seat in the Senate. Only he and Marcos are first-timers in the new slate of senators. "I'd like to thank the automated system (because)... I'm the beneficiary of the 12. Imagine if this were manual, I wouldn't be here yet, I would have waited for a long time," he told reporters in Filipino. He likewise denied that he "edged out" fellow LP senatorial bet Anakbayan Rep. Ana Theresia “Risa" Hontiveros-Baraquel in the senatorial race. "It's just unfortunate that hindi sila nasama but anyway tuloy naman ang laban namin (that she didn't make it, but our fight continues)," he said. Hontiveros-Baraquel remained at 13th place with 9,041,494 votes. Behind Hontiveros are Muntinlupa Rep. Rozzano “Ruffy" Biazon with 8,566,631 votes and Jose de Venecia III with 8,317,528 votes. They ranked 14th and 15th, respectively. Guingona added that his victory in the senatorial race is not "the final step." "The final step is the proclamation of the new president before we can start the process of transformation and reform," he said. The lawmaker was pertaining to LP standard bearer Senator Benigno Aquino III, who is slated to win the presidency based on official and unofficial tallies. Lapid, who is from administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, said that he will support Aquino should he become president. "Siyempre kailangan sumuporta para sa pagkakaisa (Of course we need to support unity)," he told reporters in an ambush interview. He also said that he wishes to pursue legislation that would provide free medical assistance to the public once he is seated again. On the other hand, Guigona said he wishes to create laws on budget reform. Vacancy The new senators will join incumbents Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes, Manuel Villar Jr., and Juan Miguel Zubiri in the 15th Congress. Aquino's term will also expire in 2013 but his impending rise to the presidency will leave a vacant seat in the Senate. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, however, said they cannot proclaim a 13th senator to fill the vacancy because technically there is no vacant seat yet. He said that the Congress can hold a special elections for the post – once it is vacated – if it wants to. Melo, for his part, said that the proclamation of 12 senators-elect "vindicated" the Comelec. "We have triumphantly cast-off the conventional wisdom that ordinary Filipinos will find it difficult to transition from the fully manual mode of voting; and we have overturned the dire conviction of some that we simply cannot do this," he said. On the other hand, the poll body said that it may take about a week before they can proclaim the winners for the party-list race because they still have to factor the votes cast for the contest into the computation of the winners and the seats awarded to the groups. Meanwhile, a joint session of Congress, sitting as the NBOC, will serve as the canvassing board for the position of president and vice president. — LBG, GMANews.TV