MANILA — The National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) released on Thursday its canvass report number 1 that contains the partial result of the 58 certificates of canvass (COC) for senators and party-list groups this 2025 midterm polls.

Unlike the partial and unofficial results of the recent elections with rankings of senators, NBOC is not releasing such rankings as it is prohibited under the law, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said.

According to Garcia, the NBOC is expected to finish canvassing of the remaining COCs Thursday including those coming from Russia, Iran and Poland that encountered delays in transmission of election results.

“Kaya lang hindi mo naman kontrolado yung bansa pagka-bigla na lang nilang pinatay yung VPN ba or whatever, wala kang magagawa dun eh, so we have to find an alternative - ang gusto sana nung mismong host, umuwi sa Pilipinas, so sabi namin - no that’s not an option, you have to find the nearest post diyan sa inyo..for example Russia, ang nearest post na puwedeng mag-transmit is Qatar, yung Iran, kesa pauwin sa Pilipinas, sa Kuwait na lang,” Garcia told reporters.

Around past 5 p.m. of Thursday, Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco said the NBOC has received the transmission of all overseas voting.

The poll body conducted a special canvassing of votes in its warehouse in Biñan, Laguna for the COCs from Lisbon, Portugal, Pretoria, South Africa and Islamabad, Paskistan.

“Nakikiusap ang mga embassy personnel na mailabas yung CCS (Consolidation and Canvassing System) kits, hindi rin po napapayagan pa hanggang ngayon. So kesa hintayin pa natin kung kelan mangyayari yan, eh part naman ng contingency dito na tayo, meron naman tayong laptop - extract ang data sa clout, mag-generate ng CCS pati na rin yung certificates of canvass - maka-transmit dito satin,” said Laudiangco.

Also in a press conference on Thursday morning, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) flagged an alleged discrepancies in Zamboanga and Dumaguete.

“This is from the Comelec website as of May 12. It was flagged by our coordinators in Zamboanga and Dumaguete and it appears to be widespread in those areas. Number of registered voters is supposed to be 992. Number of voters who actually voted were 768. And yet, the number of ballots cast were 919. So if 768 actually voted, how come there are 919 ballots cast?” according PPCRV spokesperson Ana De Villa Singson.

According to Garcia, the incicent was a "minor glitch" during the initial release of partial and unofficial result of the elections.

”Yun po ay May 12 ng gabi, nagkaroon ng immediate correction dahil nga nagkaroon ng kalituhan dun, kung napansin nyo ang pinapakita nila ay May 15- yung May 15 parehas na yung bilang na..Ibig sabihin, wala pong nagbago sa boto…nagkaroon lang ng correction sa item na yun - sa programming…ang votes kasi nugn gabi, pumasok na server nating lahat at nakikita na ng lahat sa mismong website ng Comelec,” Garcia said.

The poll chief promised to release the transmission and audit logs of the vote transmission on Tuesday.

HIGHEST MIDTERM VOTERS TURNOUT IN HISTORY

According to Garcia, this year’s midterm election has recorded the highest voters turnout so far.

He believes the main factor is the contribution of the youth voters who participated in the elections.

“Highest in the history of midterm election, 81.65 % of the 68, 431, 965 na mga botante sa buong Pilipinas,”

“Base sa inisyal natin pagtingin talagang dumagsa ang kabataan sa pagboto….yung boses nila,” Garcia said.

According to Garcia, this is almost close to the voter turnout of about 82.5% for the last presidential election.

The NBOC is expected to finish the canvassing tonight and the proclamation of the “Magic 12” is expected to push through on Saturday, May 17.