6 benefits of using bamboo for restoring ecosystems

Photo by Eleonora Albasi from Unsplash.

by Jerome Sagcal, Manila Bulletin

More countries have been recognizing the potential of bamboo in restoring damaged ecosystems. Among these countries is the Philippines which as part of the country’s enhanced National Greening Program, included bamboo planting as a tool to rehabilitate degraded watersheds. 

Bamboos have a lot to offer for their environment, so here are six benefits of using them for ecological restoration.

Fast-growing

Bamboos are considered the “Ferraris” of all woody plants. This is because of the speed at which they grow, as developing bamboos can add up to 1.2 meters to their height each day. Because of this, cutting down bamboo is not that damaging to the environment as they are easily replaceable. They can even complete their growth cycle in just three to four years and can even be harvested in a way that if only a third or sixth of the bamboo culms — the woody stem of the bamboo — are harvested per year, then more culms will actually grow in the following years.

Resilience

Bamboos forests have an underground network of fibrous roots called rhizomes which can extend up to 100km per hectare of bamboo. This biomass allows bamboo to survive and regenerate in locations that would otherwise be impossible to survive on. This makes bamboo resistant to the damaging effects of fire, flood, and drought on the environment. 

Improves soil quality

This underground root system also allows bamboo to grow in loose soil and steep slopes, which is often incompatible for other plants. It does this while counteracting soil erosion and improving soil quality. This is why bamboos are considered pioneer species as they can be introduced to an environment with poor soil quality and help improve it. 

A study in India showed how soil damaged by the local brickmaking industry successfully recovered after bamboos were planted in the area. Bamboos also raised the groundwater table level of the area.

Improves water regulation

In Colombia, planting of guadua bamboo (Guadua angustifolia) improved degraded soil by decreasing soil compaction. This enabled the return of ecological functions like water regulation and nutrient recycling. This was proven again in China, where a study comparing bamboo and sweetpotato plantations revealed that bamboo plantations exhibited 25% less water runoff compared to the sweetpotato plantations. 

Reduce coastal erosion

Bamboos are also used to reduce coastal erosion such as in the case in Thailand where bamboo poles were used as a fence to protect coastal mangroves. The bamboo fence received the full force of waves, reducing the strength of the waves by 70% and their height by 87%. After three years of using the bamboo fence alongside the mangrove trees, coastal erosion was averted with coastal sediments even increasing by 56cm.

Economic boon

Part of making people see how bamboos help restore ecosystems is to make them realize how the plant could directly help their lives. The bamboo industry is worth around US $60 billion and benefits over a third of the human population. Because of how fast they grow, people have been using bamboo to create a wide range of products. There are around 10,000 documented uses of bamboo. Among these include modern applications of bamboo in the field of construction and bioenergy.

‘Bubble Gang’ gets revamp with new faces, segments

by Manila Bulletin Entertainment

Bubble Gang, the longest-running gag show on Philippine television, is out to make the program more relevant by introducing new members, new segments, and new flavors.

During a Zoom conference last Friday, May 13, director Frasco Mortiz said the program will continue to evolve by keeping up with the trends. ”May efforts na talaga kami to do something new. How does Bubble Gang stay relevant? Nag-iisip sila ng ways kung paano sumabay sa current trends.” 

Bang Arespacochaga, consultant for the show, explained the new changes in the program. “We wanted a small group, para maka-focus sa sketches, and the characters. Kung sino yung sikat diyan sa online, ‘Bubble Gang’ is very much open.”

As Bubble Gang makes its relaunch, expect new faces like Dasuri Choi, Tuesday Vargas, and Kim De Leon on the show. Those who bid goodbye to the program were Lovely Abella, Arra San Agustin, Antonio Aquitania, Denise Barbacena, Myka Flores, Liezel Lopez, Diego Llorico, Mikoy Morales, and Ashley Rivera.

Despite the changes, friendship never ends among cast members. “The friendship does not end there. We still talk with one another,” said mainstay Paolo Contis.

Michael V shared that he felt the need to explain the changes to the outgoing cast. “Give them an insight, kung bakit siguro nagkaroon ng ganoong mga dahilan, para hindi sumama ang loob nila, and at the same time para ma-inspire sila.”

The production will not only focus on television, but it will also reach a wider audience through social media platforms. Some new segments for “Bubble Gang” include “Bes Friends”,  and “Marites United”, (Mare, ano ang latest?) 

Asked about his working relationship with Direk Frasco, Michael V said: “Hindi pa kami nagkaka-trabaho ni Direk Frasco sa studio, most probably in the coming days.”

“It’s a group effort. It’s really the whole team, the collaboration of everyone,” said Bang on the cast effort to make the gag show alive and funny. “Hindi kami p’wede maging stagnant kung ano kami 10 years or 15 years ago, kasi maluluma kami.” 

“I think yung secret dun sa longevity nung show is the ability of the show to change with the times. Kumbaga, nage-evolve siya along with you,” said Director Frasco. 

Michael V added: “To sum it up, the objective of the show is to be funny, to be relevant, to be revolutionary, and evolutionary. As long as nami-meet ng show ‘yung mga requirements na ‘to. I believe the show will be here for a long time.” (Jazzle Anne Calanao and Diannevie Feliciano/practicum)

OUR FAITH

 

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20-21.

Yes, our faith can move mountains. What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Faith will move mountains’? From the Bible. It is recorded in the 1582 Rheims Bible, in Matthew XXI 21, as: “If you shal haue faith, and stagger not, … and if you shal say to this mountaine, Take vp and throw thy self into the sea, it shal be done.

To be or not to be. Sein oder nicht sein. Shakespeare. To say it clearly: without faith, we’re really nothing.

Faith is belief; believe in us, in our works, talents and our personalities. We should also believe in our parents – or much better, in our whole family including the black sheep, which can be found everywhere.

We should believe in our friends, even though it seems to become very difficult many times.

Please remember, my dear readers: without faith will we reach the rock bottom. Don’t say, it’s a likely story.

The German poet Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1815) has mentioned in his drama “Maria Stuart”: “Even the word might be dead, but faith keeps it alive!” Chapter I of Second Thessalonians gives encouragement to all Christians, who were undergoing persecution for or because of their faith. Yes, faith is really not everybody’s thing, or “not everyone has faith”.

“If I have faith, that can move mountains” (First Corinthians 13,2).

Faith is a tantamount to convincing and conviction. Richard Wagner (German classical composer and poet, 1813-1883) found the following lyric: “Blessed are those people, who know how to live their life in humility and faith.”

So, let’s even continue believing in our government or the institution church. Faith means also a belief specially in a revealed religion. Faith is trust or reliance. Faith is really a pledged word.

Faithful love is loyal, reliable, exact and honorable love. Faithful love means even to love your enemy.
We attract good things because we believe and expect good things to come. Similarly, when we believe and expect bad things to come, we also attract that into our lives. Faith is the pathway for abundance, so be sure to hold it at the forefront of your mind. Don’t be afraid to expect the very best for yourself.

Allow me to close this column with a Chinese proverb: “People without faith in themselves cannot or will never survive!” – Worth to think about it!

True love described

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

CHRIST said it very clearly. He who is not only the fullness of the revelation of God but is also the embodiment of what true love is said: “Love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (Jn 15,12-13)

Somehow those words tell us that true love can only have a universal scope. We can note that he simply said to “love one another as I love you” without further qualification.

And immediately after those words, he described what it is to be his friend that gives us an idea about what the essence of friendship is. “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15,14) Thus, friendship is all about doing Christ’s commands. It’s not so much about having common likes and dislikes with others, or some other criteria or standards.

If our love is true, that is, it is a love that is a vital part of Christ’s love for all of us, then it is open to anything. That love would remain steadfast and would continue to grow and to be creative irrespective of how it is received by the object of such love.

It can be received well or not, it can be reciprocated generously or be betrayed. Regardless of the fate it falls into, that love will remain faithful. Thus, St. Paul once said: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (2 Tim 2,13)

This basic truth about true love should be known and appreciated by everyone of us, and especially those who are into some commitments, like married people and those with special vocations. They have to pattern their love and sense of commitment after Christ’s love that has as its objects the Father and all of us.

Christ was and is open to anything because of pure love. This is the kind of love that we should try our best to cultivate in ourselves too. It’s purely gratuitous, and even more, it will do everything to recover the beloved even if the latter not only does not correspond to that love but also betrays and goes against that love. It’s a love that is willing to bear the sins, mistakes and offenses of the others, and even willing to offer one’s life for them.

We can only do this if we are true friends of Christ, that is, persons who obey Christ’s commands. It’s this friendship with Christ that would enable us to be friendly with everybody else regardless of how the others are.

As one saint said, we should be willing to go to the very gates of hell, without entering it, of course, if only to save a soul. This obviously would require us to be tough and clear about the real goal to reach, and yet flexible and adaptable to any person and to any condition.

In this regard, we have to learn how to fraternize with sinners. We have to replicate Christ’s attitude towards sinners, who actually are all of us—of course, in varying degrees. We have to give special attention to the lost sheep and to the lost coin. We have to open all possible avenues to be in touch with all sinners.

This is what true love is all about. It may not be all sweet according to our human standards. But it is what is truly proper to us!

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

PAGASA declares onset of rainy season in PH

(JANSEN ROMERO / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

by Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz, Manila Bulletin

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) declared the start of the rainy season on Wednesday, May 18, citing the widespread rains during the last five days.

“The presence of frontal system and the occurrence of severe thunderstorms have brought widespread rains during the last five days in areas under Type I climate and other parts of the country,” PAGASA said in a statement.

PAGASA defines areas under Type I climate classification as those with two pronounced seasons—dry from November to April and wet during the rest of the year. These include Metro Manila and the western sections of Luzon and Visayas.

“Moreover, southwesterly surface wind flow was also observed during the past few days. This satisfies the criteria of the start of the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas,” it said.

PAGASA noted that intermittent rains, associated with the southwest monsoon, locally called “habagat,” will affect Metro Manila and the western sections of the country.

However, it pointed out that breaks in rainfall events, also known as monsoon breaks, which can last for several days or weeks, may still occur.

Meanwhile, PAGASA said the ongoing La Niña may still affect some parts of the country, which may increase the likelihood of above-normal rainfall conditions in the coming months.

The State weather bureau added it will continue to monitor the day-to-day weather and long-term climate situation and provide updates when significant changes occur.

Let’s always feel God’s constant love for us

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

“AS the Father loves me, so I also love you.” (Jn 15,9) Words of Christ that are worth engraving indelibly in our mind and heart. They clearly show us how much God loves us. Imagine, the love that God the Father lavished on God the Son is the same love that is also lavished on us!

This truth of our faith should drive us crazy as well as move us to learn to love God in return and to love everybody else with the same love God has for all of us. And Christ gives us the secret of how we can have such love that, according to him, will give us our complete joy. (cfr. Jn 15,11) 

And that is to keep God’s commandments. “If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,” he said, “just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.” (Jn 15,10)

Given the way love is understood by many of us, we need to learn to distinguish between what is genuine love and fake love, between what is objectively good and evil and what may just be our own ideas of them that do not conform to the truth.

Nowadays, the ability to distinguish these essential elements in our life is most needed since we are in very complicated times and many people, especially the young, the so-called millennials, are unfortunately thrown into deep confusion and ignorance. Some people have even described such sad phenomenon as invincibly irremediable.

But I believe there’s always hope and that we can still manage to get to the truth. And so, the first thing that we can say with regard to this issue is that to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between good and evil, between genuine love and fake love, we need to have a close, intimate relationship with God.

After all, he is the creator of all things, the first and ultimate lawgiver, the very foundation of reality. Without him, we go out on a limb, and expose ourselves to many dangers. Not that with him, we are free of dangers. In fact, with him, we will always be hounded by temptations from inside us and outside us. But at least with him, we are sure of the path we are taking, and the choice we will be making.

Our love, to be true, can only flow from God who loves himself. And that love is shown to us and is made available to us by Christ who commanded us precisely to love one another as he himself has loved us. (cfr Jn 13,34)

This love that comes from God through Christ in the Holy Spirit will always be in the truth, will always be consistent irrespective of our conditions and circumstances, will always know how to adapt itself to different situations without getting lost.

And given our human condition that is prone to confusion and error, we should realize that we need to always renew and purify our love. That’s simply because of the tension between our nature and our supernatural goal, not to mention our present wounded human condition that is prone to temptation and sin and to all kinds of weaknesses. We unavoidably contend with these conditions in our earthly life. 

We can always start with good intentions and the best of our efforts in anything that we do. But if we do not constantly renew and purify our love for God and neighbour that should inspire all our actions, we simply cannot go the distance.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

Filipinos continue to rule dancesport

By Jean Malanum

GOLDEN PERFORMANCE Mark Jayson Corales Gayon and Mary Joy Guiao Renigen of the Philippines compete in the slow foxtrot category of the dancesport event at the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, on Monday, May 16, 2022. PHOTO BY NHAC NGUYEN/AFP

GOLDEN PERFORMANCE Mark Jayson Corales Gayon and Mary Joy Guiao Renigen of the Philippines compete in the slow foxtrot category of the dancesport event at the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, on Monday, May 16, 2022. PHOTO BY NHAC NGUYEN/AFP

THE country's successful campaign in dancesport at the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) in Hanoi, Vietnam, has proven once again that the Filipinos are the best in the region.

After winning five golds, five silvers and two bronzes, the Philippines retained the overall title it won during the 2019 edition held at Clark Freeport Zone, Pampanga.

Philippine Dancesport Federation president Becky Garcia commended the Standard and Latin teams for making their country proud.

"They did their best because they are focused and passionate in their dancing," Garcia told The Manila Times on Wednesday.

Ana Leonila Nualla and Sean Mischa Aranar produced three gold medals in Standard Viennese Waltz, Standard Tango and Standard All Five Dances, the same three events they ruled in 2019.

In the Viennese Waltz event, they defeated Thailand's Anucha Wijitkoon and Pasraporn Phandech while Vietnam's Minh Vu Hoang Anh and Xuan Nguyen Truong won the bronze.

They triumphed in the Tango event, beating Thailand's Thanawan Yananun and Issaparung Duangkaew (silver) and Vietnam's Duc Hoa Nguyen and Yeu Nguyen Thi Hai, while in the All Five Dances, they conquered Anucha and Pasraporn (silver) and Duc Hoa and Yeu Nguyen (bronze).

"Our fighting spirits are high during the competition. We are determined to give them three gold-level performances," the 30-year-old Nualla, a licensed chemist who is now a full-time athlete, said.

"We never stopped training even during the pandemic. We're always thinking about the SEA Games. In our own way, we made sure that we will be ready for the competition," Nualla, who has been dancing with Sean for nine years, added.

Mary Joy Renigen and Mark Jayson Gayon also retained their title in the Standard Slow Foxtrot event, beating Thailand's Anucha Wijitkoon and Pasraporn Phandech (silver) and Malaysia's Leonard Jie Ren Hoh and Ning Huan Mu (bronze).

They claimed the silver medal in the Standard Quickstep event won by Thailand's Thanawan Yananun and Issarapong Duangkaew with Vietnam's Minh Vu Hoang Anh and Xuan Nguyen Truong placing third.

In the Standard Waltz, Renigen and Gayon lost the gold medal to Thanawan and Issarapong while Vietnam's Duc Hoa Nguyen and Yen Nguyen Thi Hai secured the bronze medal.

"I can say that our performance as partners has gone to another level because we trust each other more. I know in my heart that my partner is more confident this time, he's the one telling me to relax because we are competing outside of the country," the 27-year-old Renigen from Taguig City said.

She graduated from University of Makati with a physical wellness degree majoring in dance and is currently dancesport head coach of Rizal Technological University in Mandaluyong City.

Renigen and Gayon stopped dancing for two years during the pandemic and resumed only in October last year.

"Before the SEA Games, we trained in London, United Kingdom from April 14-26. We fund-raised a budget for it and by God's grace and with the help of many generous people, we were able to pursue it. We also trained in Cebu from April 30 to May 4, with Italian coach Paolo Bosco, a seven-time world champion in Standard. This training is through the generosity of Pagcor chair Andrea Domingo," Renigen shared.

Renigen and Gayon have been dancing partners since 2014. They joined the national team in 2017.

"These are great help for us in winning these medals and of course, all the people behind us who never stopped believing and trusting us, despite all the struggles," she added.

Coach German Enriquez is all praises for the Standard dance team, saying "the team performed very well. Better than in practice."

He also observed that the dancers from other countries "have also improved in terms of power."

The country's only gold medal in the Latin category was delivered by Michael Angelo Marquez and Stephanie Sabalo in the Cha-cha event.

Vietnam's Kien Nguyen Trung and Anh Pham Hong took the silver medal while Thailand's Shinawat Lerson and Preeyanoot Patoomsriwiroje won the bronze medal.

Marquez and Sabalo placed second to Vietnam's Doan Minh Truong Nguyen and Huong Dang Thu in the Jive event. Thailand's Jettapon Inthakun and Apichaya Kuptawanith were third.

They also finished second to Doan and Huong in the All Five Dances event, while Thailand's Lerson and Patoomsriwiroje walked away with the bronze medal.

Wilbert Aunzo and Pearl Marie Caneda won the silver medal in the Samba. Kien and Anh Pham Hong got the gold medal while Thailand's Jettapon Inthakun and Apichaya Kuptawanith took the bronze medal.

Kien and Anh beat Jettapon and Apichaya for the gold medal in Rumba while Aunzo and Caneda picked up the bronze medal.

Aunzo and Caneda also bagged the bronze medal in the Paso Doble, where Vietnam's Doan Minh Truong Nguyen and Huong Dang Thu pocketed the gold medal while Lerson and Patoomsriwiroje won the silver medal.

𝐎𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐔 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐯 𝐔𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Strongholds are weakened and progress starts to sprout in the corners of Davao de Oro’s valleys formerly under the grasp of the communist groups. 

The deterioration of the red strongholds significantly turned the tables in favor of the residents in far-flung communities who suffered circumstances brought by the clash between the government and the rebels in the past years.

Since 2016, the eleven (11) identified guerilla fronts in Davao de Oro have turned down to one (1) in 2021, a shred of concrete evidence that the provincial government unleashed all its efforts to bring the program of the Duterte’s Administration in combating insurgency into action.

Recently, the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) honored thirty-eight (38) Leaders as partners of peace at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC). Seventeen (17) of which are Mindanawon Leaders including Governor Tyron Uy of Davao de Oro.

In a statement by OPAPRU Undersecretary David Diciano, OPAPRU honors its stakeholders for helping the agency towards pushing forward its programs and projects which enable former combatants to smoothly reintegrate into mainstream society and live as peaceful and productive Filipinos.

In Davao de Oro, one of the determiners of progress is achieving peace all throughout its scope through programs under its Peace Agenda. From 2016 to 2021, a total of 1,116 former rebels in the province received assistance and firearms remuneration from the Enhanced Comprehensive  Local Integration Program (ECLIP) of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG). 

Moreover, the Oplan Pagbabago program, a flagship program under Gov. Uy’s peace agenda, is instrumental to the achievements in relation to peace and order in the province. The program was able to pull-off accomplishments through provisions of assistance to former combatants and community-based serbisyo caravan which offers services to Dabawenyos in hard to reach areas.

Further, its strategic communications team also continues conducting information drives to prevent the infiltration of the communist groups in vulnerable sectors in the society such as the youth sector, labor groups, indigenous peoples, and women groups among others.

OPAPRU thanked its partners and stakeholders who worked with them side by side, focused on the goal of achieving secured and peaceful communities, and transforming the lives of former combatants. 

Governor Uy expressed his gratitude to be a part of the OPAPRU, and prays that achievements of peace in the province will be sustained in order for every dabawenyo to live in peace and harmony. (JA PAO-IPRD, photo from Mindanews and J. Cadiz)

It must be ‘all hands on deck’ to help protect PH tourism

by Manila Bulletin

Among the most affected by the pandemic is the hospitality and tourism industry when lockdowns and quarantines forced hotels, resorts, bed-and-breakfast inns, amusement parks, etc. to shut their doors. Suddenly, the thriving and booming tourism sector faced its worst nightmare – airports were closed, tours got called off, room bookings were cancelled, events were put on hold indefinitely.

For a country that relied on tourism for decades to boost the local economy and employ thousands of workers, the global health pandemic in March 2020 was a tragedy that no one had predicted.  It should be noted that prior to the pandemic, the tourism sector contributed US$92.6 billion to the economy, which plummeted to only US$17.8 billion in 2020.

 

Fast forward two years and there is currently a semblance of normalcy due to the low number of new Covid cases. Even after the campaign season and the elections, health experts saw no spike in Covid numbers, allowing them to recommend to the IATF the extension of Alert Level 1 until the end of the month.

With this encouraging news, it seems it is “business as usual” as the country remains open to tourists from countries with low Covid cases. But it is not enough to just “open” the doors of businesses involved in tourism – the government and stakeholders must now work hand-in-hand to strengthen the industry to make it ready, responsive, and resilient so that it can withstand and survive any future “shocks.”

In a report entitled “Supporting Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery in Southeast Asia” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last May 13, 2022, it said that the Covid-19 crisis has “exacerbated the tourism industry’s pre-pandemic structural challenges.”

“Prior to the pandemic, the tourism sector was beset with four structural challenges – first, there was over reliance on foreign tourists with focus on a few destinations; second, a lack of infrastructure outside major destinations; third, high informal employment; and last, the (tourism sector in Southeast Asia) only attracted low-cost travelers.”

The structural challenges, the ADB added, worsened when Covid-19 struck and created new challenges for the industry.

“Now that tourists are more aware of the importance of health precautions, it has become a crucial consideration in selecting travel destinations. Moreover, there are indications that Covid-19 could lead to a fundamental decline in long-haul international tourism, which was exacerbated by the adoption of digital tools for virtual meetings, conferences, and events tourism,” the ADB reported.

To address these concerns, the regional bank suggested four policy response areas for tourism.

“The first is focusing on ways to restore demand as well as strengthening domestic tourism by developing marketing campaigns to convince travelers it is safe to travel. Second is building new channels of demand to diversify tourist destinations and develop lesser-known points of interest, while tapping into high growth segments like ecotourism, health and premium wellness experiences, and halal tourism,” said the ADB.

Meanwhile, the third involves capacity building to support future digital demand, touching on the need for authorities to invest in training workers in both digital and non-digital skills to tackle the issues of low pay and informality.

The fourth calls for increasing industry resilience, where the tourism industry in each country must work closely with governments to improve communication channels.

“Creating a permanent crisis management task force may also ensure that a country’s tourism sector is better able to cope with future shocks,” the ADB said.

All of these suggestions form part of an “all hands on deck” approach to ensure that no matter what happens in the world’s affairs, our tourism industry will not be crippled and deemed “useless” because of the lack of foreign tourists or cancellation of plane flights.  Since it is more fun in the Philippines, we now have to make it safer for all.

Comelec names 12 senatorial bets to be proclaimed

(JEL SANTOS/MANILA BULLETIN)

by Jel Santos, Manila Bulletin

As the uncanvassed certificate of canvass (COC) can no longer affect the senatorial race, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), has named the 12 winning senatorial candidates who will be officially proclaimed by the poll body at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum Tent on Wednesday, May 18, at 4 p.m.

In its Canvass Report No. 7 which covered 172 out of 173 COCs, the senatorial bet with the most number of votes was Robin Padilla, garnering a total of 26,612,434 votes.

Padilla was followed by Loren Legarda with 24,264,969 votes and third in rank was Raffy Tulfo who got 23,396,954 votes.

The other senatorial candidates who won were Win Garchalian (20,602,655 votes); Chiz Escudero (20,271,458 votes); Mark Villar (19,475,592 votes); Allan Peter Cayetano (19,295,314 votes) ; Migz Zubiri (18,734,336 votes) ;Joel Villanueva (18,486,034 votes) ; JV Ejercito (15,841,858 votes) ; and Risa Hontiveros (15,420,807 votes).

The last spot was won by Jinggoy Estrada who garnered 15,108,625 votes.

As the number of the remaining untransmitted votes from Lanao del Sur and Shanghai, China will no longer affect the 12 winning senatorial candidates, the poll body’s supervisory group has recommended to the Comelec en banc to push through with the official proclamation of the winning bets on May 18.

“Even if we add the 685,643 registered voters of Lanao del Sur and the 1,991 registered Filipino overseas voters from Shanghai with the votes of the 13th ranked candidate 13,263,970 votes, the votes of the 12th ranked candidate 15,108,635 votes will no longer be overcome considering the margin of 1,844,655 votes,” it said, which was approved by the Comelec en banc.

Recently, Comelec Acting Spokesperson John C. Laudiangco said the poll body will proclaim the senators-elect without their rankings yet as they will still wait for the conduct of special elections in several barangays in Lanao del Sur this month.

The poll body said the winning senators will only be allowed to bring five companions.

The Comelec en banc, sitting as the NBOC, is canvassing the votes for senators and party-lists at the Philippine International Convention Center Forum Tent in Pasay City.

It can be recalled that elections in Shanghai, China did not push through due to Covid-19 lockdown. Meanwhile, the Comelec declared failure of elections in 14 barangays in Lanao del Sur, forcing the poll body to order special elections.