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Printout of the election results shown to watchers and media at the Voters Center |
Senatorial candidates handpicked by detained formerPresident Rodrigo R. Duterte swept the overseas election among Filipinos inHong Kong and Macau, results published earlier today by the consulates in bothspecial administrative regions of China.
According to the advisory, the total number ofregistered voters for both cities was 94,295 (of which about 83,000 were inHong Kong). Of these, 31,637 voters cast their ballots, for a total turnout of33.55%
The 10 candidates known to their followers as “Duter10”occupied the top slots in the ballot, with the remaining two going to formersenators Gringo Honasan who ran as an independent; and Tito Sotto, who was inthe administration ticket.
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PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
Incumbent senator Bong Go led the winning candidates,followed closely by Bato dela Rosa and Rodante Marcoleta.
For the party-list vote, Duterte Youth, which waslargely carried by Duterte supporters, was a runaway leader; followed by CIBAC,which is aligned with the Jesus is Lord Church which has a sizeable followingin Hong Kong; then EPANAW Sambayanan, whose first nominee is Lorraine Badoy, astaunch Duterte ally.
Nearly the same result was obtained in several postsin the Middle East like Kuwait, where Go, Dela Rosa and Marcoleta emerged inthe top three.
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Basahin ang detalye! |
But for their two additional choices, Filipinos inKuwait went with Honasan and re-electionist Imee Marcos.
Filipinos in Singapore, however, dropped Quiboloyfrom the magic circle, preferring togive the three last remaining spots to opposition candidates Bam Aquino andFrancis Pangilinan, followed by Lacson.
The results showed a far different mix in places wherethere are fewer overseas contract workers, like in Los Angeles City, whereAquino and Pangilinan topped the list, followed by Heidi Mendoza, an independentcandidate aligned with the two.
Go was on fourth slot, followed by Marcoleta, delaRosa, another independent candidate Luke Espiritu, and then Lacson, Rodriguez,Bondoc, and Makabayan candidates Teddy Casino and France Castro.
In Australia, nearly the same names came out in the listof winners. The winning 12 candidates there were Aquino, Pangilinan, Mendoza,Go, dela Rosa, Espiritu, Marcoleta, Casino, Bondoc, Rodriguez, Lacson and Castro.
As as shown by the complete but unofficial resultsprovided by the Commission on Elections, the overseas vote, which was doneonline for the first time, hardly reflected the national outcome.
This is due in large part to the low turnout for thehistoric vote. For example, out of the 4,557 registered voters in Southern California,which includes not just LA but also parts of Nevada and Arizona, only 1,131voted online, for a dismal turnout of 3.27 percent.
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Philippine Consul General for Macau Jun Israel and Macau CG Edna May Lazaro made up the Special Board of Canvassers along with Vice Consul Gino Soriano |
Many voters have pointed to a lack of informationabout the new mode of voting, despite Comelec’s reported budget of at leastP1.42 billion for making the transition as seamless as possible for the registered1.3 million Filipino voters all over the world.
The technology used was also seen as far fromuser-friendly, as many voters complained of failing to even get past theinitial stage of enrolling their credentials so they could be issued a ballot.
When they did manage to cast their ballots online, anumber of voters expressed suspicion that their ballots had been replacedbecause the final page that showed up on their screen displayed a jumble ofletters that seemed to form names of candidates they did not vote for.
Comelec and other officials tasked with administeringthe vote attributed this to birthing pains, and hope that the various experiencesgained from the new technology would serve overseas voters in good stead whenthey get to vote in the more crucial presidential election in 2028.