00:00Meanwhile, a growing number of senatorial candidates and party list organizations are now demanding a manual recount of votes
00:07following sudden changes in the partial and unofficial election results, which allegedly led to a decrease in the vote counts of certain candidates.
00:16Among those who filed requests are the Camp of Apolo Kibuloy, Kabataad and Solo Parents Party List.
00:23In response, the Commission on Elections or Comelec clarified that a manual recount cannot be granted outright
00:31and explained that such an undertaking would require specific legislation and funding,
00:36particularly to compensate the teachers who would manually count the ballots.
00:41The poll body added that the ongoing random manual audit, which officially began today and is being carried out by the committee,
00:48already serves as a form of manual vote verification.
