PPCRV awaiting word from Brillantes on fate of its unofficial count

PPCRV chairperson Henrietta “Tita” de Villa told reporters that a phone call from Comelec chief Sixto Brillantes Jr. iwill determine whether they will continue to release data to the public.Video by INQUIRER.net’s Noy Morcoso lll

MANILA, Philippines — The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Tuesday said it was awaiting word from the Commission on Elections on whether it should cease releasing its unofficial tally of the election returns.

Poll watchdog chairperson Henrietta “Tita” de Villa told reporters that a phone call from Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. in about two hours will determine whether they will continue to release data to the public.

The PPCRV has so far released data from 53,818 precincts out of a total of 78,166.

In its tally on the second day of counting votes since Election Day (Monday), former MTRCB chief Grace Poe-Llamanzares maintained a tight grasp on the top spot.

Second in the list is Senator Loren Legarda.

But this, being an unofficial count of votes, might have to stop once the Comelec issues an order that the PPCRV cease releasing information, said De Villa.

“This is to avoid confusion. When they start canvassing and tell us to stop, we will stop,” she said.

The Comelec has started canvassing at 10 a.m. but the PPCRV has continued to release tallies of the election returns they receive from the Comelec’s transparency server.

“In the past, Comelec was connected to the main server, now we are connected to the same transparency server,” said the PPCRV head.

The poll watchdog continues to receive data from the server but De Villa said that she still had “to check if we can still post these.”