El Shaddai’s Buhay leads party-list race

MANILA, Philippines—The prolife Buhay Hayaan Yumabong (Buhay), the party-list group of El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde, took a commanding lead in the party-list electoral race, getting nearly five percent of the votes based on partial, unofficial tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

As of 1:26 p.m. Tuesday, Buhay has received 897,575 votes, or 4.84 percent of the total, more than 200,000 votes higher than the second placer A Teacher, or Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment through Action Cooperation and Harmony towards Educational Reforms, which has so far received 679,799 votes, or 3.66 percent.

In third to fifth places were the leftist group Bayan Muna with 646,878, or 3.49 percent; consumer advocate 1-Care, or 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy Inc. with 582,968 votes, or 3.14 percent; and the progressive Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party with 565,218 votes, or 3.05 percent.

Ako Bicol Political Party was sixth with 511,528 votes, or 2.76 percent of the total votes cast; Abono was seventh with 502,664 votes, or 2.71 percent; and Gabriela Women’s Party was eighth with 502,588 votes, or 2.71 percent.