Arroyo proclamation delayed by PCOS problems

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a certain winner in the race for the congressional seat in Pampanga’s second district.

In fact, members of the Pampanga board of canvassers are discussing how they are going to proclaim Arroyo, who ran a campaign from Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, where she is under hospital arrest in connection with a P325-million plunder charge.

“She can be proclaimed here through a representative. A relative or her lawyer can stand in for her,” poll supervisor Fernando Cot-om told the Inquirer on Wednesday.

“We need not go to the VMMC to proclaim the winning congresswoman,” he said.

But Arroyo could not be immediately proclaimed winner of Monday’s balloting.

Cot-om said a compact flash (CF) card that malfunctioned in Arroyo’s hometown of Lubao delayed the canvassing of votes. He said Lubao had not transmitted its certificate of canvass as of Wednesday.

As of 12:30 p.m., Arroyo’s votes in Guagua were 33,328; Sasmuan, 13,478; Floridablanca, 31,728; Porac, 30,930; and Sta. Rita, 14,156.

Jose Miguel Arroyo said his wife did not vote on Monday because she is under detention at VMMC where she is being treated for a rare bone disease.

Problems with defective CF cards were reported in elections across the country, according to Inquirer bureaus.

Southern Luzon

CF glitches delayed the transmission of election returns to the provincial board of canvassers, delaying the proclamation of winners in  the provinces of Cavite, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Sorsogon, Batangas and Marinduque.

The problem took an ugly turn in Tanza, Cavite, when supporters of rival mayoral candidates Marcus Ashley Arayata and former Mayor Raymundo del Rosario lost their patience over the stalled canvassing of votes from one remaining precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine. The tensions eased only when the canvassing resumed with the arrival of a CF card replacement at midnight on Tuesday.

In Camarines Sur, a protest delayed the canvassing and proclamation of winners even as election returns from 27 towns of the 35 towns and one city had already arrived, two days after the count started.

Only two candidates from the province’s first district were proclaimed as of noon Wednesday, reelectionist Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. and Camarines Sur Board Member Warren Señar.

In Oriental Mindoro, candidates running unopposed were declared winners even before the CF card problem could be fixed—reelectionist Gov. Alfonso Umali Jr. and his running mate Vice Gov. Humerlito Dolor and Rey Umali, representative for the second district.

Wrong expectation

In Albay, unopposed reelectionist Gov. Joey Salceda was proclaimed only at noon of Wednesday.

In his Facebook page, Salceda said he was named winner after two nights of waiting. “I was made to expect and believe that the electoral system in its second year of execution would be much faster and surer,” he said.

In Camarines Sur, the canvassing in the hotly contested fourth district congressional race between actor Aga Muhlach and Wimpy Fuentebella was suspended until Thursday. CF problems hit Tigaon, Siruma and Sagñay.

The CF problem also delayed canvassing in Sorsogon City and Bulan town, Sorsogon; in Camalig, Malilipot, Tiwi and Polangui and the cities of Ligao and Tabaco, in Albay; Torrijos, Gasan and Buenavista, in Marinduque; Batangas City; Calamba, Sta. Rosa, Luisiana and San Pablo City, in Laguna; Alfonso, Tanza, Silang, General Mariano Alvarez and Dasmariñas City, in Cavite; Bataraza, Brooks Point,  Cuyo, Duraman and Quezon, in Palawan; and Bato and Baras, in Catanduanes.

Mindanao

In Davao City, the poll watchdog group Kontra Daya reported that in many areas in southern Mindanao, the canvassing had suffered delays. Hours after the polls closed, 91 precincts had yet to transmit results to the canvassing center. In some areas of Tagum, Davao del Sur  and Cotabato City the transmission also failed.

Of 11 towns in Davao Oriental, five failed to transmit results for canvassing because of defective CF cards and weak signals in several areas, according to poll assistant Neresa Liguez. “The cards started to fail even before the voting closed. Nothing was saved on the backup cards,” Liguez said.

She added that replacement cards from Manila arrived in Davao City around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. “The cards will be immediately transported to Mati and Cateel,” Liguez said.—With reports from Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon; Juan Escandor Jr., Jerome Balinton, Mar Arguelles, Maricar Cinco, Redempto Anda, Mar Arguelles, Fernan Gianan, Shiena Barrameda, Madonna Virola, Romulo Ponte, Joy Oyardo, Janna Aycel Narvaez, Dyna Apatin, Loen Gonzales and Christian Taduran, Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Karlos Manlupig, Germelina Lacorte and Kaiza Nawal, Inquirer Mindanao