It's 6-5-1 in favor of TU in Iloilo province
Unlike in the city, voters in the province's 42 towns and one component city placed six senatorial bets from the administration's Team Unity (TU) in the top twelve. Only five from the Genuine Opposition (GO) and one independent were included in the circle of winners.
This is based on the latest count of the Provincial Board of Canvassers which completed the canvassing early morning yesterday.
Senator Manny Villar (GO) landed in the number one spot with 384,725 votes, followed by former Senator Loren Legarda (GO) with 355,263 votes.
On the third place is former administration official Mike Defensor (TU) getting 346,211 votes. Senator Francis Pangilinan (Ind.) is fourth with 335,781 votes and Rep. Francis Escudero (GO) fifth with 301,826 votes.
Defensor traces his roots from Mina, Iloilo. In fact, he was endorsed by his aunt Ilongga Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago during the campaign period.
Sixth place is Senator Edgardo Angara (TU) -- 300,861 votes; seventh, Rep. Benigno "Noy-Noy" Aquino III (GO) -- 296,685 votes; eighth, Juan Miguel Zubiri (TU) -- 263,992 votes; ninth, Joker Arroyo (TU) -- 260,267 votes; tenth, Ralph Recto (TU) -- 221,398 votes; eleventh, Panfilo Lacson (GO) -- 211,076 votes; and twelfth, Prospero Pichay (TU) -- 189,345 votes.
Surprisingly, Ilongga Senator Anna Dominique "Nikki" Coseteng who got overwhelming votes in previous elections only ranked 21st with 110,054 votes.
Renegade soldier Antonio Trillanes IV and Senator Gregorio Honasan, on the other hand, did not make it in the top twelve. They ranked 15th and 17th with 175,964 votes and 149,387 votes, respectively.
Actor Richard Gomez also did not get much support from the Ilonggos. He merely landed in the 25th place with 31,071 votes.
Meanwhile, his fellow actor Cesar Montano which is part of the TU slate ranked 14th with 184,685 votes.
Former Ilonggo votes topnotchers senators John Osmeña and Vicente "Tito" Sotto III this time ranked far away from the top twelve. Osmeña at number 20 with 137,694 votes and Sotto at number 22 with 79,781 votes.
In the party-list elections BANAT, which has Ilonggo Salvador "Buddy" Britanico as its first nominee, ranked number one with 38,565 votes.
Number 2 is APEC with 21,974 votes; Number 3, Bayan Muna with 21,054 votes, Number 4, Ang Kasangga with 17,648 votes and Number 5, A Teacher 13,110 votes.