By Lilian Mellejor/Philippine News Agency
DAVAO CITY — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has debunked the reported call or appeal to suspend the proclamation of the winning senatorial candidates, calling it as “fake news.”
In a press statement on Friday, CBCP president, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, said they have not made a call or appeal or suggestion to suspend the proclamation of the winning candidates of the May 13 mid-term elections.
“If that kind of news is circulating — that the CBCP has made such a call — that is again pure fake news. That is not true that the CBCP issued such a call or appeal,” Valles said in a statement.
This is the second denial issued by the CBCP regarding the May 13 elections. Last week, it also denied endorsing candidates.
Valles reacted to reports that the CBCP-National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) sought to defer the proclamation of the winning candidates due to electoral fraud.
Reports quoted CBCP-NASSA executive secretary, Fr. Edwin Gariguez, as saying that there should be no proclamation of winning senatorial bets until the alleged irregularities have been investigated and resolved.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is, however, pushing with the proclamation scheduled next week. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said it is unlikely to suspend the proclamation on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations.
As of Thursday, the administration-backed candidates still dominate the top 12 slots of the senatorial race.
In the partial and official results on Thursday, Senator Cynthia Villar was in the number one spot with 19,383,224 votes, followed by Grace Poe (17,043,889); Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go (15,685,847); Pia Cayetano (15,330,363); Ronald dela Rosa (14,529,585); Sonny Angara (14,023,811); Lito Lapid (12,628,054); Imee Marcos (12,618,428); Francis Tolentino (11,975,435); Koko Pimentel (11,283,357); Nancy Binay (11,041,386); Bam Aquino (11,001,047); Bong Revilla (10,988,697); JV Ejercito (10,984,412); and Jinggoy Estrada (8,654,021).
The National Board of Canvassers has so far processed a total of 129 of the 167 certificates of canvass.
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