The Commission on Elections halted most unofficial vote tallies Wednesday as private counts differed on whether Miriam Defensor Santiago or Fidel Ramos was leading in the presidential race.
Santiago proclaimed victory based on unofficial counts that have shown her holding a slim lead in the seven-member race since Monday's balloting.Ramos, President Corazon Aquino's choice, predicted he would overtake Santiago. Late Wednesday, an unofficial tally broadcast by ZNN Radio showed the former defense secretary already had moved ahead.
ZNN's count, based on 4.25 million of the 27 million votes cast, showed Ramos leading with 952,141 votes to Santiago's 935,298. Businessman Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco was third with 758,564 votes.
One unofficial tally, called Media Citizens Quick Count, will be allowed to continue its count, which lags far behind most others. Santiago was leading in the latest Quick Count tally.
Another tally by ABS-CBN Television showed Santiago leading with 564,996 votes, compared with 492,227 for Ramos and 331,985 for Cojuangco.
Several other private counts, operated by broadcasters, civic groups and others, have been putting out their own figures, raising complaints from candidates about manipulating public opinion.
Quick Count had tallied only about 1 million votes as of late today and still showed Santiago leading the field, which also includes Imelda Marcos, widow of President Ferdinand Marcos.
The confusion stemmed from the slow and bureaucratic official tabulation system. Votes are counted at precinct level, then the results are tallied and recounted at municipal and provincial echelons until they are released in Manila.
Official results were not expected until next week.
Tensions ran high in parts of the nation as the count dragged on. Angry crowds gathered outside buildings in the Manila suburbs of Pasig and Pasay, complaining of delays.
Foreign observers, meanwhile, alleged massive vote fraud in the central Philippines.
Voters elected 17,000 officials, from president to village council members, from among 87,000 candidates. The balloting was the biggest ever in the Philippines, and election officials say the count will take days.