Grace Poe leads strong Team PNoy showing in partial tally

(Updated 9:20 a.m., May 14) Grace Poe is completing a remarkable rise from movie icon's daughter to possible Senate topnotcher, as she captured the number one spot based on 66.93 percent of election returns as of Tuesday morning.

Never rising higher than number three in surveys, Poe is the surprise leader so far, after a steady climb in the polls.

The candidate herself wasn't expecting it. "Akala ko po ay maghihingalo ako sa 10 hanggang 12 [na posisyon]," Poe was quoted as saying in a live interview on GMA’s "24 Oras" as partial results were aired.

"Ang aking makinarya po ay hindi ka kumplikado kaya para sa akin po suntok sa buwan. Ang ayaw ko lang po talaga ay 'wag mapahiya ang pangalan ng tatay ko kaya talagang sinipagan ko po," she said.

Eight other senatorial candidates from the administration's Team PNoy were in the top 12, based on partial and unofficial results shortly after the voting period closed on Monday night.

According to the partial unofficial tally as of 9:06 a.m. Tuesday and with 66.93 percent of the returns, Poe leads the senatorial field with 14,424,177 votes. She is followed by fellow administration bets Loren Legarda (13,177,542 votes), Alan Peter Cayetano (12,479,972 votes), and Francis Escudero (12,479,416 votes).

Legarda was considered the frontrunner throughout the campaign, weathering a media storm over an undeclared New York property days before the election. Three incumbent senators – Legarda, Escudero, and Cayetano – were expected to take the top three spots, before the 44-year-old Poe blindsided them.

With a lead of over a million votes over Legarda, Poe appears to be coasting to victory over much more seasoned politicians. She was certainly aided by a heart-warming campaign ad with her popular mother, actress Susan Roces, and her frequent references to her father the late Fernando Poe Jr., the movie legend who his family says was cheated of the presidency in 2004.

Steady rankings

Nancy Binay in fifth place (11,730,988 votes) is the top-ranking United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) bet. She is followed by Team PNoy's Sonny Angara (11,335,279 votes), Bam Aquino (10,904,736 votes), Koko Pimentel (10,457,336 votes) and Antonio Trillanes IV (10,052,821 votes).

Team PNoy's Cynthia Villar (9,775,163 votes), UNA's JV Ejercito (9,704,884 votes), and UNA's Gregorio Honasan (9,368,907 votes) round out the top 12. While the numbers have been changing, the order has not altered except for Villar and Ejercito switching places since last night. — Kimberly Jane Tan and Carmela G. Lapeña/BM/HS/RSJ, GMA News