Official count cuts Pimentel's lead over Zubiri to 501 votes

The lead of opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III over administration bet Juan Miguel Zubiri shrunk to 501 votes based on the latest official tally by the Commission on Elections' (Comelec) National Board of Canvassers (NBC). Pimentel's lead over Zubiri fell to 501 votes, after NBC released official report no. 28, dated June 29, showing Pimentel garnered 10,971,362 votes, while Zubiri bagged 10,970,861 votes. Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, in an interview with reporters on Wednesday, said the tabulators corrected the votes credited to Pimentel and Zubiri. He said the corrections were based on the tallies from Maguindanao province. “These are clerical or human errors," Ferrer said adding that there were processes that the NBC implemented to determine the accurate figures. Migz's lead in Shariff The said votes, however, do not include those from Shariff Kabunsuan province canvassed last Monday wherein Pimentel got 1,349, while Zubiri scored 3,616. If tally results from Shariif Kabunsuan would be added to the NBC's official tally released on Wednesday, Zubiri would eject Pimentel from the 12th slot. With Shariff Kabunsuan votes, Zubiri's total votes would be 10,974,477, while Pimentel's votes would be 10,972,711 votes. If Zubiri's total votes - Shariff Kabunsuan included - would be deducted of 680 votes from Tamparan, Lanao del Sur wrongly credited to him by the Comelec, the administration senatorial bet's lead over Pimentel would be 1,086 votes. Vote changes Comelec's official tally based on report no. 28 also changed the tally of votes earlier canvassed and reported by media based on the figures that the poll body's commissioners announced in previous canvassing. The difference between media 's July 2 tally and Comelec's June 29 official tally on the votes of the top 13 senatorial bets are as follows:

Senatorial bets	July 2, 2007	June 29, 2007	Difference
Loren Legarda	18,470,543	18,468,501	2,042
Francis Joseph Escudero	18,241,385	18,232,402	8,983
Panfilo Lacson	15,494,939	15,492,510	2,429
Manuel Villar Jr	15,305,021	15,307,145	(2,124)
Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan	14,508,164	14,503,879	4,285
Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III	14,283,800	14,278,002	5,798
Edgardo Angara	12,553,309	12,622,273	(68,964)
Allan Peter Cayetano	11,776,379	11,775,797	582
Joker Arroyo	11,770,806	11,768,661	2,145
Gregorio Honasan	11,591,224	11,589,829	1,395
Antonio Trillanes IV	11,177,576	11,176,406	1,170
Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III	10,974,911	10,971,362	3,549
Juan Miguel Zubiri	10,972,205	10,970,861	1,344

Proclamation in August Meanwhile, Ferrer said the poll body might move the proclamation of the 12th winning senator next month. Ferrer said the proclamation might be delayed because the poll body has to resolve issues in problematic areas. "Siguro (August), possible 'yan…but we'll try our best within the month." He said they have to wait for the result of the special elections in Pantar, Lanao del Norte, which Comelec tentatively scheduled on July 23. Elections in Pantar were postponed after the Comelec found out that the town had more 2,000 illegally registered voters. To push through with the elections in the area, Comelec scheduled this week another registration of voters from Pantar. "Pinag-aapply uli. We are going through (the registration). We allotted this whole week for registration," he said. After the registration, the list will be referred to the election registration board, before its publication. A court proceeding will also be conducted to determine who among the registrants are qualified voters. "(The whole proceeding will) take another week," Ferrer said. Meanwhile, municipal certificates of canvass from Bogo, Cebu arrived at the Comelec the other day. Ferrer said the municipal board of canvassers will reconvene to tally the votes at the poll body's central office in Intramuros, Manila. "Ayaw na nila doon (sa Bogo) mag-canvass dahil nagbabarilan na doon," he said. He said that after the canvassing, the provincial board of canvassers will reconvene to reconstruct the provincial COC that will be submitted to the NBC. The commissioner said the poll body also set on July 16 special elections in seven precincts in Lanao del Norte that were earlier postponed due to shooting incidents. - GMANews.TV