A tabulation of figures from the CCS laptop was flashed in the projector screen. It has four columns each bearing the figures: 99.40 per cent; 943,309; 577,602, and 38.76 per cent, respectively.
The audience at the Sangguniang Panlungsod hall, most of whom were poll watchers could only surmise on what they meant as there was no description of the figures that were flashed on the screen.
No one from the board of canvassers also bothered to tell. “It had been going on like that the previous night,” Emma Dawal, a poll watcher of partylist Bayan Muna said.
City Board of Canvassers chair Danilo Cullo presides over the canvassing at the Sangguniang Panlungsod Hall. (davaotoday.com photo by Jose Hernani)
Figures were flashed on the widescreen projector without the benefit of a description, much less an explanation from anyone among the Comelec authorities, the poll watchers complained.
This left many at the canvassing hall guessing.
Cullo declared the canvassing adjourned at about 11 midnight. They were set to resume at 1 pm the next day to allow time for the election canvassing personnel to rest.
Before break-up could be officially declared, lawyers representing the different parties batted hard for a printed copy of the tabulation results to make sure that they will have a back-up in case the CCS laptop, the one used for canvassing votes, would bog down.
The request made by the lawyers was almost denied by the CCS laptop operator who, at first, said that it was not possible.
The canvass report presented by the board of canvassers before the adjournment showed Sara Duterte enjoying a lead of 228,240 over her opponent House Speaker Prospero Nograles’ 160, 225 votes. Duterte garnered 388,465 as of May 11 closing time. Incumbent mayor Rodrigo Duterte garnered 440,030 votes as compared to the 105, 962 that his vice-mayoralty opponent Benjamin De Guzman got.
Political party lawyers watching how their candidates are faring. (davaotoday.com photo by Jose Hernani)
It was however a neck to neck fight in the congressional race for the first district. Karlo Nograles, who runs for the first district in Davao City, maintained a lead of only 8,000 votes over Mabel Acosta. As of 11 pm of May 11, Nograles got 99,586 votes over Acosta’s 91, 414 votes.
In the Davao City second district, Mylene Garcia posted an early lead of 19, 262 over congressional bets Diosdado Mahipus and Danilo Dayanghirang who got 42, 625 and 41, 638 votes respectively. Garcia garnered a total votes of 61, 887 as of canvassing time.
In the Davao City third district, Isidro Ungab was ahead of his opponents by 21, 209 votes. Ungab garnered 65,029 votes against Ruy Elias Lopez III’s 43, 828 votes.
People had expected fast tabulation of results from the country’s first automated elections but with the glitches they experienced, some of them preferred to revert back to the manual system. (Cheryll D. Fiel/davaotoday.com)
