| 18 May 2010
By Maila AgerPosted date: May 17, 2010
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Mar Roxas II has reportedly took the lead over his closest rival Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay in the vice presidential race by over a hundred thousand votes based on the latest count by the senator's camp over the weekend.
After counting a total 88 certificate of canvass (CoCs) over the weekend, Liberal Party (LP) campaign manager Florencio "Butch" Abad said Roxas was slightly ahead of Binay by 137,404 votes. The LP tally contradicts the latest count of both the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its accredited arm, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), where Binay leads by about 800,000 votes.
Abad said the LP, using the official documents provided to them by the Comelec, counted 11, 890, 802 million votes for Roxas as against Binay's 11, 753, 398 votes.
The 88 CoCs represents 81 percent of the total 108 CoCs from provinces and highly urbanized cities and municipalities. The LP is entitled to a copy of the election returns from the precincts.
"While our count continues to show that Mar is on the lead, we don't want to claim victory," Abad said in a press conference on Monday.
Roxas is the running mate of leading presidential candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III while Binay is the running mate of former President Joseph Estrada, who is trailing behind Aquino.
