RIYADH/JEDDAH/ALKHOBAR, 12 May 2004 — If yesterday’s trend were an indication, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and running mate Noli de Castro looked set for a win among Filipino voters in the Kingdom.

In the tally of votes prepared by the citizen’s watchdog National Movement for Free Election, or Namfrel, Arroyo and de Castro were shown leading in all the voting centers in the Kingdom — Riyadh, Jeddah and Alkhobar.

In Riyadh, Namfrel’s tally as of 7:20 p.m., covering 29 precincts, showed Arroyo with 5,339 votes, trailed by Panfilo Lacson with3,430 votes; Fernando Poe Jr., 2,361; Raul Roco, 1,240; and Eddie Villanueva, 1,834.

In the vice presidential race, de Castro was ahead with 7,971 votes, Poe running mate Loren Legarda had 5,323, Roco running mate Herminio Aquino had 552, and Villanueva’s teammate Rodolfo Pajo, had15.

In Jeddah, as of 9:30 p.m., Arroyo was leading with 4,099 votes, followed by Lacson with 2,558, Poe with 2,019, Eddie Villanueva with 1,474, and Roco with 898 votes.

In the vice presidential race, de Castro was ahead with 6,390 votes, Legarda had 3,875, Aquino had 335 votes, and Pajo, 7.

In Alkhobar, Namfrel said Arroyo was also leading with 5,178 votes; Lacson, 2,842; Poe,1,486; Villanueva, 1,601; and Roco, 1,638.

De Castro was ahead with 6,702 votes, followed by Legarda with 5,108, Aquino with 647 votes, and Pajo had 26 in the vice presidential race.

The senatorial race saw a mixture of old and new faces making it to the top 15. Only 12 seats are at stake in the Senate.

Leading the pack were Mar Roxas, Alfredo Lim, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Dick Gordon, Rodolfo Biazon, Bong Revilla, Robert Barbers, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Nene Pimentel, Orlando Mercado, Boots Anson-Roa, John Osmena, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Kit Tatad.

The counting of votes started at around 8:30 p.m. last night but the initial tally was not completed until 11 p.m. There are 29 Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) at the consulate counting 723 ballots per precinct.

Jeddah’s Namfrel chairman Rudy Carillo said he couldn’t explain the slow progress.

But one consular officer said the slow counting process is due to lack of numbers. He said that Riyadh has 50 SBEI’s to count over 23,000 votes while Jeddah has 29 SBEI’s to count 20,964 votes. He said there was request for more volunteers but it seems the request came too late.

The counting was further delayed when the consulate and the rest of a block in Al-Faysaleyah District was hit with a 25-minute brownout from 11:30 to 11:55 p.m. Monday night, and then from 3 a.m. to 3:15 a.m.

Consulate Administrative Officer Taha Guinomla was quick to say that the incident was a “non-issue.”

He said the whole block was without power, not only the consulate. The consulate was not prepared for a power outage. There were no emergency power lamps or even candles.

Namfrel, which lives by the motto “It’s better to light a candle than curse in darkness,” had no candles either but produced four flashlights, saving the day for everyone.

Guinomla allayed fears of ballot switching, saying that SBEI’s and poll watchers never left their seats during the brownout and were “eyeballing” the ballots.

A consulate officer who didn’t want to be identified praised the volunteers. “The volunteers gave their best effort. They showed dedication and fortitude.”

One consulate officer noted that the trend seems to favor Arroyo, who was leading in all precincts. Only Precinct 6 showed a win for Lacson but Arroyo overtook him as the count progressed.

After the tallying of votes in Alkhobar and Jeddah, the results will be brought to Riyadh for canvassing before the total would be relayed to Manila.

(Additional input from Dinan Arana in Alkhobar, Bien Custodio in Riyadh, and Francis Salud in Jeddah.)