DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 15 May) – The Duterte siblings and the 1st District councilors of Davao City had been proclaimed around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, several hours after the proclamation was delayed when the SD card of a vote-counting machine from a clustered precinct in Davao City National High School (DCNHS) malfunctioned.
Atty. Krisna Samantha Caballero, Davao City Election Officer and chairman of the Board of Canvassers (BOC), said incumbent City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio garnered 580,058 votes while her lone challenger, Magdaleno Marcellones, obtained 4,262 votes.
Sara’s older brother, resigned vice mayor Paolo Duterte, garnered 197,024 voters while his opponents Rex Labis got 2,121 and Susan Uyanguren, 5,118.
Vice mayor-elect Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, the youngest son of President Rordrigo Duterte with ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman, received 557,769 votes. Sebastian ran unopposed.
None of the Duterte siblings showed up during the proclamation. Mayor Sara was represented by Atty. Warren Liong while Paolo and Sebastian by Atty. Edwardo Legaspina.
Liong and Legaspina are lawyers of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), regional party co-founded by Sara.
Of the 984,604 registered voters in the 1st District, the BOC reported 635,806 people who cast their voters, registering a voters’ turnout of 64.57%.
For 1st District Councilors, reelectionist Council Mabel Acosta obtained 170,755; reelectionist Melchor J. Quitain, 161,655; reelectionist Councilor Edgar Ibuyan Jr., 140,116; reelectionist Councilor Bonifacio Militar, 123,780; comebacking Councilor Nilo Abbelera, 122,680; reelectionist Councilor Braga, 121,826; Pamela Librado, 118,406; and Jessica Bonguyan, 115,214.
Newly elected representatives and councilors of the second and third districts were proclaimed around 3:40 p.m.
The BOC requested around 6:40 p.m. to the central office of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) that the voting threshold of the 1st District be lowered after a clustered precinct in Davao City National High School was not canvassed.
Caballero said that the board has decided to adopt the motion of lawyers Liong and Legaspina since it would no longer affect the result of the voting.
Around 7 p.m., Caballero made an announcement that the board had already submitted the resolution to the COMELEC, recommending approval on their request and the password to allow them to change the number of the threshold voters.
“We are just waiting for the reply and the password. It would take an hour,” she said.
Caballero said 1,138 out of 1,139 clustered precincts in Davao City had been canvassed already or equivalent to 99.92 percent.
She said 746 uncanvassed votes from a clustered precinct in DCNHS would no longer affect the ranking of the eight newly elected councilors of the 1st District.
Caballero said the SD card of the vote-counting machine had to be reconfigured. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)