Former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy Taguiwalo and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Secretary-General Renato Reyes questioned the credibility of the elections.

On their social media posts, both Taguiwalo and Reyes said that the election happened yesterday is full of anomalies because of the many errors occurred in the middle of the voting period.

Reyes pointed out several signs that the election was “not free and democratic” and also “far from being clean” and “far from being truly credible”.

In his post he listed five things that might prove his beliefs:

1. Pagpalya ng 1,000 SD cards sa araw ng eleksyon na nakaapekto sa 400-600 vote counting machines
2. Disenfranchisement ng mga botante
3. Pagpalya ng transparency server sa maagap na pag-tally ng boto
4. Malawakang bilihan ng boto at paggamit ng resources ng gobyerno para paboran ang mga kandidato ng administrasyon
5. Pananakot at intimidasyon, kasama na ang garapal na electioneering ng AFP at PNP laban sa mga progresibong partylist

Ang lahat ng ito ay nagbibigay duda sa resulta ng eleksyon at nagpapakita na hindi tunay na demokratiko ang proseso. Kapag namamayagpag ang bilihan ng boto at pera ng mga makapangyarihan, sabayan pa ng pananakot para impluwensyahan ang resulta, hindi tunay na malaya ang halalan. Marumi ang halalang naganap.

Sa panahong ito, makatwiran na kwestyunin ang kabuuang kondukta at resulta ng halalang pumabor sa mga makapangyarihan at administrasyong nasa poder. 

Meanwhile, Taguiwalo who served President Duterte several years ago as DSWD Secretary was not convinced by the results of the election.

She claimed that several voters complained that their votes were rejected by the vote counting machine (VCM) and experienced many irregularities during the voting process.

“The May 13 elections has been clearly compromised. Reports continue to come in about how thousands of voters have been disenfranchised, how their votes were not read, and how generally chaotic the entire process of voting was being loaded with irregularities on the side of the Comelec and its machines.” Taguiwalo said.

“The administration and its defenders think that the results are already definitive; and to some degree they are: they now define even more clearly that right-thinking, patriotic Filipinos have to escalate protests in all available legal and democratic venues to oppose what is coming,” she added.

Taguiwalo and Reyes both supported defeated senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares who reached the 24th spot in the unofficial tally.

Otso Diretso supporters on Twitter suspected that the results for the 2019 senatorial elections were rigged by Commission on Elections, saying that the malfunctioning vote counting machines might be contributed to the inaccuracy of the tally.

The top #HalalanDayaan2019 became the number one trending topic on Twitter, showing the sadness of many Otso Diretso supporters who campaigned their bets via social media.

Here are some of the comments of netizens on Twitter who used the said hashtag.

“The devastating part is, there’s no assurance that all votes being counted are accurate. From the malfunction of VCMs, mismatches of ballots and receipts corrupted SD cards and delayed transparency servers. It clearly shows that something is not right. #HalalanDayaan2019” @baldozeer said.

The devastating part is, there's no assurance that all votes being counted are accurate.

From the malfunction of VCMs, mismatches of ballots and receipts, corrupted SD cards, and delayed transparency servers.

It clearly shows that something is not right. #HalalanDayaan2019

— Gabrielle Kim (@baldozeeer) May 13, 2019

“This is so disappointing. PINAS DI NA TALAGA TAYO NADALA. This is the downfall of my country. I can’t hold back my tears anymore. GOD SAVE MY COUNTRY #HalalanDayaan2019 #Halaan2019” @itsmepatiyok wrote.

This is so disappointing. PINAS DI NA TALAGA TAYO NADALA. This is the downfall of my country. I can’t hold back my tears anymore. GOD SAVE MY COUNTRY #HalalanDayaan2019 #Halaan2019 pic.twitter.com/C9fKJmTVOW

— Antagonist✨ (@itsmepatiyok) May 13, 2019

“hey were rejected by the majority, but it’s more of rejection to change and progress. We lost brave and courageous candidates who are willing to fight for us and stand against the administration. Let’s educate others and make it happen in 2022!#HalalanDayaan2019” @_lancekeane remarked

They were rejected by the majority, but it's more of a rejection to change and progress. We lost brave and courageous candidates who are willing to fight for us and stand against the administration.

Let's educate others and make it happen in 2022!#HalalanDayaan2019 pic.twitter.com/vgamGxnQ2u

— lance (@_lancekeane) May 13, 2019

“WE ARE NOT SORE LOSERS, WE KNOW WE WERE CHEATED ON SO PLEASE DECLARE FAILURE OF ELECTION BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS BEING MANIPULATED BY THOSE POWERFUL PEOPLE!!#HalalanDayaan2019” @klenaii_klens posted.

WE ARE NOT SORE LOSERS, WE KNOW WE WERE CHEATED ON SO PLEASE DECLARE FAILURE OF ELECTION BECAUSE THE SYSTEM IS BEING MANIPULATED BY THOSE POWERFUL PEOPLE!!#HalalanDayaan2019

— klens (@klenaii_klens) May 13, 2019

Meanwhile, actress Leah Navarro also joined the netizens who questioned the credibility of the elections.

“Are those counts genuine? How does anyone know? The reason it’s called a ‘transparency server’ is clear, but it’s going offline for hours is very unclear, and suspicious. @COMELEC needs to explain why this could be #HalalanDayaan2019.” she said.

Are those counts genuine? How does anyone know? The reason it’s called a ‘transparency server’ is clear, but it’s going offline for hours is very unclear, and suspicious. @COMELEC needs to explain why this could be #HalalanDayaan2019.

— Leah Navarro (@leahnavarro) May 13, 2019

Senator Risa Hontiveros also urged COMELEC to explain about the malfunctioning VCMs.

“I am extremely alarmed and disappointed over reports that some 400 to 600 vote-counting machines were replaced in this year’s midterm elections,” she said.

Congressman-elect of First District of Davao City Pulong Duterte congratulated his closest political ally former PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and former special assistant to President Christopher “Bong” Go for winning the senatorial elections.

In a post, Pulong expressed his happiness after his friends who are not so known in the whole country in the past several years ago suddenly got elected to a powerful position in the government.

“The leap of faith has been proven by the faithful! Senators Bong Go and Bato! CONGRATULATIONS!!” Pulong said in his post.

Go and Bato both served the government after President Rodrigo Duterte won the elections in 2016 and became known nationwide because of their vocal support to the chief executive.

They also vowed to help the Duterte government once they got elected.

Go got 19,535,952 votes as of writing while Bato got 17,964,775 which secured their victory.

Pulong also won via huge margin against his opponent for the congressman.

Some netizens said that the victory of Bato and Go might prove that the people widely supported the Duterte administration.

Opposition senatorial candidates Otso Diretso are still not reaching the magic 12 as of writing.

According to the latest unofficial results for senatorial candidates, only Bam Aquino has the closest chance to win the elections, as he only needed more than 200,000 votes to achieve victory.

Meanwhile, the other 7 candidates of Otso Diretso was far from close from reaching the magic 12 including Mar Roxas who got 9,363,728, needs 5 million more votes to win the elections.

COMELEC already transmitted 92.01% of election returns nationwide.

The other members of Otso Diretso Chel Diokno got 6,053,394 votes, Gary Alejano 4,494,369, Samira Gutoc 4,015,575, Romy Macalintal 3,806,292, Erin Tanada 3,681,258 and Florin Hilbay 2,615,894.

Otso Diretso is targeting a “One Catholic” vote during the campaign period, however, the number showed that they failed to urge the largest religion in the Philippines to unite and support their candidacy.

During the campaign period, they also criticized the Duterte administration’s policies and vowed an ‘independent senate’ if all of them won the election.

Otso Diretso is still not releasing a statement as of writing.

Several hours ago, Liberal Party President Kiko Pangilinan also criticized COMELEC for being slow on updating the results of the elections, saying that they can’t even explain why the delays are happening.

“Lumabas kayo, ipakita ninyo mga mukha ninyo at magpaliwanag sa malaking kapalpakan na ito. Bakit wala pang resulta sa Senate race? Bakit hindi kayo humaharap sa publiko? Hindi ba ninyo maipapaliwanag ang mga pangyayari kaya nagtatago kayo mataos ang limang oras?” Pangilinan said.

“Lalo lang lumalaki ang agam-agam at pagdududa ng pubiko sa katahimikan ninyo.” he added.

Senator Cynthia Villar complained about the names appeared to the receipt she received after casting her ballot on May 13 at the Las Piñas City Science High School.

In an interview with DZRH News, Villar was surprised that a certain candidate appeared in her receipt despite not voting it.

A video from the Philippine Information Agency also showed Villar complaining about her receipt.

“Bakit di ko binoto, nasa receipt?” Villar asked the COMELEC representative.

However, Villar also said that there’s a possibility that she made a mistake during the shading of the names which might explain why the problem happened.

Cynthia, who’s leading the senatorial race voted together with her husband former Senate President Manny Villar.

Villar is not the only high profile politician complained during the election day, Former Vice President Jejomar Binay also experienced a problem after the vote counting machine (VCM) rejected his ballot eight times.

Unlike Villar who normally left her precinct, Binay immediately went to COMELEC headquarters to complain.

Mar Roxas in the first wave of the election results (3 out of 212 clustered precincts) in Tacloban City only got 32 votes, getting the second to the lowest position among Otso Diretso candidates in the said place.

Meanwhile, Bam Aquino got the highest vote in Tacloban among Otso Diretso candidates, getting 166 votes, while Chel Diokno placed second with 97 votes.

Imee Marcos who’s a pro-government candidate led in Tacloban City, getting 528 votes, while Bong Go and Bato Dela Rosa reached second and third position.

The votes got by Roxas made some pro-Duterte bloggers believed that the people of Tacloban could still be thinking of the controversial actions of the former DILG Secretary in their place during Yolanda in 2013.

On April 23, Roxas visited Tacloban and tried to convince the voters to make his political comeback possible.

Here are the senatorial candidates reached the top 13 in Tacloban City.

Davao City Mayor and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) Chairman Inday Sara Duterte warned voting systems company Smartmatic to avoid trying to interfere with the results of the senatorial elections.

Inday Sara addressed COMELEC and Smartmatic after she was asked by one of the reporters about the alleged cheatings that might happen in the elections.

The Davao City Mayor is one of the people who believe that President Rodrigo Duterte should have won 19 million votes in the last presidential elections.

“That’s why it is an election, that’s why it is a democracy. People are allowed to choose kung sa kanila yung gusto nilang botohan,” Inday Sara said after voting at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School in Matina, Davao City on Monday.

“That’s why we remind COMELEC and Smartmatic to be faithful sa mga choices ng mga tao, wag na nilang pakialaman ang results ng botohan,” she added.

She also urged her father, President Duterte to exercise his right to vote.

“Sinabi ko hindi ako sure but…. sayang din yung isang boto niya kaya I will remind him to go out and vote,” she said.

Several videos have been circulated on social media showing ballots that were pre-shaded using ‘UV ink’.

However, COMELEC denied that pre-shaded ballots existed and pointed out that the paper on the video is only a sample ballot that was altered to misinform the people.

Former Vice President Jejomar Binay expressed his disappointment after his ballot was rejected by the vote counting machine (VCM) for eight times on Monday, May 13.

He also got annoyed after the representative from COMELEC failed to explain to him why his ballot got rejected by the machine.

The former VP also told the media that the representative told him that his vote was invalid because of the error.

Because of what happened, Binay is not thinking if the machines really intended to reject the ballots to give advantage to other candidates.

“Ngayon mukhang nag dududa na ako dito,” Binay said.

Ex-VP Jejomar Binay, nanggagalaiti matapos hindi mabasa ang kanyang boto | via RH06 @sherwinalfaro #DZRHat80 #Desisyon2019 pic.twitter.com/h7lWrNQKXy

— DZRH NEWS (@dzrhnews) May 13, 2019

Binay, who’s voting at the San Antonio National High School left and told the media that he’s going to Commission on Elections immediately to file a complaint after the VCM error.

According to him, the voters should not lose their vote because of a mistake that they didn’t make.

“Pupunta ako ngayon sa COMELEC, magrereklamo ako.. hindi tama iyon,” he said.

Meanwhile, a COMELEC representative explained that the VCM rejected the votes of Binay because of a paper jam.

They said that they cannot stop the election despite the problems, but they assure that COMELEC is going to deliver another backup VCM if the problem continues.

According to them, they kept the ballot of Binay in a folder and going to feed it to the machine once the VCM already repaired.

“Pag naayos na po yung machine, saka po natin ife-feed lahat yon,” the COMELEC representative said.

BREAKING: Ex-VP Jojo Binay's vote was rejected eight times by the vote counting machine due to paper jam, according to San Antonio National High School Principal Jina Iligan | @jelenefulesulit #TheFilipinoVotes pic.twitter.com/eOvdtSUPGz

— CNN Philippines (@cnnphilippines) May 13, 2019

Senatorial candidate Jinggoy Estrada during the Miting De Avance of Makati City Mayor Abby Binay mocked detained Senator Leila De Lima after the sudden change of tide to their lives.

During a speech, Estrada who’s trying to make the audience laugh threw shade against De Lima who’s inside Camp Crame for alleged involvement in corruption during her time as the Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary.

De Lima was one of the officials who probed Estrada, together with other senatorial candidates Bong Revilla and Juan Ponce Enrile because of graft.

“Tignan mo yung nagpakulong sa amin? Kilala mo yung nagpakulong sa amin? Yung babae? ‘Yun ang pumalit sa amin sa Camp Crame!” Estrada said.

Estrada also described his detention as “vacation” saying that they’re ready to go back to their work as public servants.

“Mahirap talaga magbakasyon na napag-initan ka na, niyurak ang iyong pagkatao, binaboy ang iyong pagkatao, bigla ka pang kasuhan, bigla ka pang pinakulong.” Estrada said.

“Pero mga kaibigan, malakas ang aking loob, malakas ang aming loob na humarap sa inyo at sabihin sa inyo paulit-ulit na wala po kaming kasalanan sa taumbayan.” he added.

Estrada is facing a plunder charge and only got his temporary freedom by posting bail.