Arroyo takes strong lead in vote count<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Manila<\/p>\n
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo took a strong lead on Sunday
\nover chief rival Fernando Poe in a government-sanctioned election
\n\"quick-count\" as a watchdog body said it saw no signs of massive
\ncheating alleged by the opposition.<\/p>\n
The civilian poll watchdog National Citizens Movement for Free
\nElections (Namfrel), which is authorized to conduct an unofficial
\ntally of the votes for the May 10 elections, said their latest
\ncount found Arroyo with 3,503,680 votes to Poe's 2,560,855 votes.<\/p>\n
The Namfrel count as of Sunday noon covers about 23 percent of
\nall votes cast.<\/p>\n
At a government convention center, employees of the official
\nCommission on Elections (Comelec) began opening up ballot boxes
\nfrom all over the country in preparation for the formal
\nnationwide canvass of votes.<\/p>\n
However the tally still had not begun and the official results
\nare not expected for weeks due to the laborious process of hand-
\ncounting an estimated 35 million ballots.<\/p>\n
Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion, meanwhile, said he saw no
\nsigns of the massive cheating in favor of Arroyo, as alleged by
\nthe opposition.<\/p>\n
\"We don't see signs of massive cheating, no deliberate,
\nmassive cheating,\" Concepcion told AFP.<\/p>\n
He conceded that there had been numerous problems during the
\nvoting with many people unable to cast their ballots because
\ntheir names were not on the official lists.<\/p>\n
But he said this was largely because the Comelec did a \"bad
\njob\" of preparing for the polls.<\/p>\n
Exit polls and media \"quick-counts\" of the May 10 elections
\nhave largely shown that Arroyo will defeat Poe to win a new six-
\nyear term.<\/p>\n
Followers of Poe and other opposition groups have charged that
\ncheating has ensured an Arroyo victory, citing cases of an entire
\ntown that voted for Arroyo or places with inflated voter
\nturnouts.<\/p>\n
Concepcion said his group was looking into these allegations
\nbut he also warned against unverified charges of fraud.<\/p>\n
\"My concern is that this campaign has been very heated.
\nCandidates were hitting each other over their personalities. It
\nwas not a 'platform\" campaign',\" he said.<\/p>\n
At least 147 people died in election-related violence since
\nthe start of the campaign period in December.<\/p>\n
Concepcion slammed opposition members who have accused Namfrel
\nof being part of the alleged cheating scheme, challenging them to
\nprove their accusations.<\/p>\n
He also appealed for calm until the official results are
\nclear, saying even Namfrel's figures are only partial results
\nintended to discourage cheating.<\/p>\n
\"The results of the election will eventually be shown in the
\nend, when all things are said and done,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/arroyo-takes-strong-lead-in-vote-count-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}