Comelec starts canvassing of overseas votes from Hong Kong, Singapore

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), began the canvassing of overseas absentee votes (OAVs) Wednesday evening as transmissions throughout the country continued to come in at a snail’s pace.

On the second full day of canvassing, the total certificates of canvass (COCs) received so far was 29. There are a total of 304 expected COCs from in the country and 196 OAVs.

The COCs that came throughout the day were from Southern Leyte, Antique, Batanes, Mountain Province, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Bataan, Makati, Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Occidental, Singapore, Hong Kong, Camiguin, Bacolod, San Juan, Zamboanga Sibugay, Pasig, Las Piñas, and Lapu-Lapu City.

Two OAV countries, Hong Kong and Singapore, had automated elections while several others such as India, Myanmar, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina, Chile, Uganda, Kenya, among others, had manual voting.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr., when asked in a press conference about the slow pace of the transmission of COCs, said many factors affected the pace of the canvassing.

“Not having any [cell phone] signal does affect the transmission [from] the provincial or city [board of canvassers] to here but that is not much of a problem,” Brillantes said.

“The major problem in the transmission of the COCs…is really the disputes and those that are incomplete,” he said.

Comelec had previously issued resolution no. 9700 allowing municipal, city, and provincial board of canvassers to proclaim winners in their respective levels on the basis of incomplete results as long as the remaining uncounted votes will not affect the final tally.

Brillantes, who previously stated that they aim to proclaim winners in the senatorial race by Wednesday night, said that they are now aiming to proclaim more than half of the winning senators by Thursday.