Senate receives 141 of 173 certificates of canvass for prexy, VP race

The Philippine Senate has so far received 141 out of 173 certificates of canvass (COCs) detailing the votes cast for presidential and vice presidential candidates in the just concluded Eleksyon 2022.

According to the latest report of the Senate media bureau, the number corresponds to 81.50% of COCs that are expected to be delivered to the upper chamber.

"A total of 141 Certificates of Canvass (COCs) for President and Vice President or 81.50 percent of the total 173 COCs expected to be transmitted to the Senate were delivered to the upper chamber as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, 2022," the Senate media bureau said.

The latest batch of COCs that arrived at the Senate building in Pasay City include those from Tawi-Tawi, Leyte, Davao City, Zamboanga del Sur,  63 barangays of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Siquijor, Bohol and Manila.

The COCs from Agana, Kuwait, Japan and Oman were also delivered to the Senate.

The Senate has started receiving the ballot boxes containing the COCs and the election returns (ERs) on May 10, or a day after the May 9 national and local elections.

The COCs and the ERs will be transferred to the House of Representatives before May 24 or the day where both the Senate and the House are expected to convene in a joint session and sit as the National Board of Canvassers to tally the votes cast for the 2022 presidential and vice presidential elections.

In the latest partial, unofficial count, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. leads the presidential race with 31,103,175, followed by Vice President Leni Robredo who has 14,822,051 votes.

Meanwhile, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte leads the partial, unofficial tally for the vice presidential race with 31,561,948 votes followed by Senator Kiko Pangilinan with 9,232,883 votes. — RSJ, GMA News