Last 3 senators proclaimed

Last 3 senators proclaimed | The Philippine Star >> News >> Headlines: "MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections yesterday proclaimed the last three winning senators, completing the so-called Magic 12, with a speed that Comelec officials said vindicated the poll body.

Senators Manuel Lito Lapid of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Teofisto Guingona III of the Liberal Party (LP) and independent candidate Sergio Osme�a III will serve until 2016.

They were proclaimed even though the Comelec has not yet canvassed all the provincial certificates of canvass (COCs). Osme�a, who was in Cebu, did not attend the event held at the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila.

In a speech, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the senators’ proclamation “comes at a most opportune moment in our country’s political history.”

“A mere eight days after the landmark elections of May 10, 2010, we stand ready to proclaim the last three senators-elect, thereby causing the continued orderly progression of the august Philippine Senate,” he noted."

“As a people, we face the future with great hope, secure in the knowledge that whoever our new president turns out to be, he will be aided in his task by a Senate that enjoys an unequivocal mandate from the Filipino people,” Melo said.

He added that the proclamation was a “shining vindication of everything we had fought for, from the halls of Congress to the rough and tumble world of public opinion.”

“Today marks the beginning of the future. We have successfully broken the psychological barrier that prevented us from imagining fully automated elections in the Philippines,” he said.

Based on the Comelec canvassing, Osmeña placed 10th (11,583,854) while Lapid bagged the 11th slot (10,971,045) and Guingona the 12th and last place (10,200,293).

Guingona defeated his closest rival, party-mate Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel, who got 9,041,494 votes.

In an ambush interview, Guingona said it was unfortunate that other LP bets, especially Baraquel, did not make it but gave assurance the party would continue their fight.

The three senators will join their nine colleagues who were proclaimed by the Comelec last Saturday.

They are Senators Ramon Revilla Jr. (Lakas-Kampi); Jinggoy Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino); Miriam Defensor-Santiago (People’s Reform Party); Franklin Drilon (LP); Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP); Pia Cayetano (Nacionalista Party); Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (NP); Ralph Recto (LP); and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (Nationalist People’s Coalition).

Come-backing Senator Osmeña failed to appear in his proclamation at the Comelec office yesterday morning because he thought the ceremony was in the afternoon.

The newly elected and re-elected senators will join incumbent Senators Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Gregorio Honasan, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Antonio Trillanes, Manuel Villar Jr., and Juan Miguel Zubiri.

Malacañang, meanwhile, congratulated yesterday Lapid, Guingona and Osmeña.

Deputy presidential spokesman and Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan said the three senators “will carry this nation forward and will lead us perhaps to a more colorful level of governance as another body that would ensure checks and balances and to provide a continuing voice for the Filipino people.”

Meanwhile, Baraquel, who placed 13th in the senatorial race, yesterday hinted that she was open to be proclaimed a winning candidate, but clarified this issue has to be settled first by the Supreme Court.

By July 1, the Senate will only be composed of 23 members because one of its members, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, whose term is set to expire in May 2013, ran and won in the presidential race.

By tradition and practice, Filipino voters elect only 12 senators every three years.

“On the question of the proclamation of a 13th senator, it is an interesting legal question that should promptly be brought to the proper body for answers and to set a precedent for such an incident, should it occur again,” Baraquel said.

In another development, Sen. Francis Escudero downplayed reports yesterday that he is also interested in the Senate presidency when the 15th Congress starts in July.

“I’m not actively seeking it,” he said.

But he hinted he was ready to take up the challenge if it comes his way.