Miriam Defensor Santiago on Thursday was locked in a seesaw battle with Fidel Ramos for the lead in the presidential race as tensions mounted because of the slow count and allegations of fraud.
Vice President Salvador Laurel, who was trailing the seven-member field, conceded defeat. He called on his supporters to prevent Santiago from being cheated out of victory to succeed President Corazon Aquino.Both Santiago and Ramos variously held slender leads in private tallies, which are based on official figures. The official tabulation of the Commission on Elections is not expected to be released for days.
Monday's balloting for 17,000 posts contested among 87,000 candidates was the largest election in the nation's history. The seven presidential candidates include Imelda Marcos, wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Confusion over the election's outcome fueled allegations of violations, including vote-buying, ballot thefts and intimidation. The Philippines' long and notorious history of fraudulent elections added to public skepticism over the balloting.
ABS-CBN television reported serious counting delays in 20 towns and cities in the Manila area and central Luzon.
Protests mounted in scattered areas across the country.
In the latest report, supporters of a mayoralty candidate in Mauban town in Quezon province, 50 miles southeast of Manila, stormed the municipal hall Wednesday and burned ballots.
The demonstrators were protesting accusations of election fraud by the incumbent mayor, private radio ZNN reported. No arrests were made.
In Manila, media stopped broadcasts of their private counts by noon Thursday to comply with an election commission order aimed at reducing confusion.
Only the Media Citizens Quick Count, a non-profit group, was authorized by the Commission to tabulate.
But Quick Count officials said their computers had failed and the data had been lost. The organization broadcast appeals for private individuals to donate their computers to help the volunteer group resume its tabulations.
According to the last Quick Count tabulation, Santiago led with 344,476 votes over Ramos' 337,170. The figures were taken from a count of 1.46 million out of 27 million votes cast.
Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, Aquino's first cousin and a close Marcos ally, was third in the Quick Count tally with 213,014 votes.
House Speaker Ramon Mitra was running fourth with 176,508 votes, followed by Sen. Jovito Salonga with 166,163; Imelda Marcos with 130,692 and Laurel with 23,785.