The 12 winning senators in the May 9, 2016 national and local elections were proclaimed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), sitting as National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), yesterday at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

The new batch of senators for the 17th Congress are Franklin Drilon, Joel Villanueva, Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, Richard Gordon, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao, Francis Pangilinan, Risa Hontiveros, Sherwin Gatchalian, Ralph Recto, and Leila de Lima.

With only 1,211 votes that have not yet been received by the canvassing and consolidation system, the NBOC decided to proclaim the 12 winning senators as these votes would no longer affect the ranking of the senatorial candidates, citing that the difference between the 13th and the 12th rank senatorial candidates is 1,332,972.

The proclamation by the NBOC of the winning senatorial candidates was led by Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista.

The12 winning senators are:

Drilon – 18,607,391

Villanueva – 18,459,222

Sotto – 17,200,371

Lacson – 16,926,152

Gordon – 16,719,322

Zubiri – 16,119,165

Pacquiao – 16,050,546

Pangilinan – 15,955,949

Hontiveros – 15,915,213

Gatchalian – 14,953,768

Recto – 14,271,868

De Lima – 14,144,070

The tally was based on the votes of 44,979,151 voters out of the 55,736,801 registered voters for the 2016 elections.

All, except for Sotto and Lacson, were able to personally receive their certificates of proclamation (COPs) from the members of the NBOC. Sotto and Lacson’s COPs were received by their respective lawyers. It was not clear why Sotto and Lacson did not make it to the proclamation.

The 12 winning senators will serve for six years from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2022.

PACQUIAO’S STAND

In a post-proclamation interview, Pacquiao said he would not make any promises as it would be improper.

“Ayoko naman mangako kasi hindi naman tama iyon. Ang sa akin lang, magtatrabaho ako sa abot ng aking makakaya (I don’t want to make any promises for it would be inappropriate. On my part, I will work hard),” said Pacquiao.

Pacquiao also made his stand on the country’s most pressing issues that will be tackled by the administration of incoming President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

On the issue of death penalty, Pacquiao said he is in favor of it since it is “biblical.”

“Pabor ako sa death penalty. Actually, hindi ito bawal sa Panginoon at bagkus ito ay biblical (I’m in favor of death penalty. Actually, it is not wrong before the eyes of God, on the contrary it is biblical),” said Pacquiao, citing the Bible in Romans 13:1- 7 as the reason explaining why death penalty is biblical.

“Kung babasahin ho natin ang Romans 13, Chapters 1-7, malalaman ho natin kung bakit. Hindi naman kasi ang presidente ang maghahatol kundi ang government, kaya kailangan bantayan ang judiciary natin para sa balanseng pagsusuri (If we are to read Romans 13, Chapters 1-7, we will know the reason. It is not the President who will judge, but the government. We need to keep watch of the judiciary branch for a balanced judgment),” said Pacquiao.

De Lima, the first to arrive at the proclamation venue, was all praises for the Comelec for the “success of the elections” and even said it was “actually better than the previous ones.”

“It was indeed a success. It may not be a perfect election but it was ‘actually better than the previous ones’,” said De Lima.

De Lima, who served as secretary of the Department of Justice (DOJ) from 2010-2015 and resigned to join the senatorial race, said she is “raring to be back.”

“I’m raring to go back to certain places, to certain areas where I promised that I would be back if I make it,” said De Lima.

“And since I made it, I’ll be going back there and of course we’ll be preparing for very interesting and challenging times ahead,” she added.

“Maraming, maraming salamat po sa suporta, sa lahat ng naghirap, hardwork, sacrifices, and of course the love. I love you all (Thank you so much for all the support, to those who exerted effort, hard work, sacrifices and of course the love. I love you all),” said De Lima. (With a report from Martin A. Sadongdong)

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Leslie Ann Aquino

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