MANILA, Philippines – The proclamation of 3 new senators completed the victory of the administration ticket on Saturday, May 18, in midterm elections seen as a referendum on the President and a preview of the 2016 presidential elections.

The national board of canvassers (NBOC) on Saturday proclaimed Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito, and Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan as Philippine senators. Other senators-elect who attended the proclamation included Nancy Binay and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. Both were proclaimed earlier but held off attending their own proclamation ceremonies.

Pimentel earlier criticized the proclamation as being premature.

The proclamation of the last 3 senators means that of the 12 senators to assume office in June, 9 will come from the Liberal Party (LP)-led coalition, Team PNoy, and only 3 from the opposition group United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

Political analysts have said the midterm elections would test the influence of President Benigno Aquino III, who chairs the LP.

It is also a preparation for the presidential elections in 2016. LP’s Mar Roxas is expected to face off with UNA’s Jejomar Binay over the presidency.

Based on the NBOC’s official count, the following winners have garnered the following votes:

1. Grace Poe (Team PNoy) – 20,147,423

2. Loren Legarda (Team PNoy) – 18,482,961

3. Alan Cayetano (Team PNoy) – 17,408,453

4. Chiz Escudero (Team PNoy) – 17,332,952

5. Nancy Binay (UNA) – 16,645,515

6. Sonny Angara (Team PNoy) – 15,858,995

7. Bam Aquino (Team PNoy) – 15,388,992

8. Koko Pimentel (Team PNoy) – 14,584,612

9. Sonny Trillanes (Team PNoy) – 13,995,603

10. Cynthia Villar (Team PNoy) – 13,696,120

11. JV Ejercito (UNA) – 13,552,991

12. Gringo Honasan (UNA) – 13,070,031

(Check all official results through this link.)

The NBOC, which is composed of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc, computed these numbers from all local certificates of canvass (COCs) and some from overseas. The NBOC will finish tallying votes from overseas absentee voters next week, but said the untallied numbers remain minimal and will not drastically affect the totals. – Rappler.com