MANILA, Philippines—Commission on Elections Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they will order the temporary suspension of the operation of its transparency server if they decide to press ahead with the partial proclamation of winning senatorial candidates on Thursday evening.
The move, Brillantes said, is in deference to the National Board of Canvassers.
“This is showing some respect to the NBOC. Nagta-tabulate pa kayo ng unofficial, e nagpo-proclaim na kami ng official. Hindi naman magandang tingnan,” Brillantes said.
(It won’t look proper if the unofficial tabulation would proceed while we are officially proclaiming the winners.)
Among others, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas are hooked up to Comelec’s Transparency Server to deliver unofficial, partial poll results.
He, however, clarified that the suspension will only be in effect until all 12 winning senators are proclaimed.
The Comelec chief earlier said a partial proclamation may take place Thursday night for five to six winning senatorial candidates, if the Comelec en banc, sitting as NBOC, decides to deny the motion to defer proclamation filed by the United Nationalist Alliance Wednesday evening.
Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes. FILE PHOTO
If things will go as scheduled, the remaining candidates will be proclaimed Friday evening.
UNA said the motion was made following reports of “manipulated data” and “slow transmission of vote returns.”
Comelec is set to decide on the matter within the day.
The Comelec so far received 66 certificates of canvass out of the total 301.