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Arroyo foes on path to victory
 Opponents of President Gloria Arroyo are winning key local posts, officials said yesterday, as the vote tally showed Arroyo allies also losing ground in the crucial race for 12 Senate seats. Even as the slow, manual count of the May 14 elections continued, violence raged with the wife of a mayoral candidate wounded and her assailant killed in a shoot-out in the volatile northern province of Abra. In the capital Manila, former police chief Alfredo Lim,78, was poised to take the post of mayor after his opponent, pro-Arroyo candidate Ali Atienza, conceded, saying Lim had an insurmountable lead. In the Philippine financial district of Makati Arroyos arch-nemesis, incumbent Mayor Jejomar Jojo Binay, was declared the winner after the election commission count showed he had soundly beaten his rival, pro-Arroyo candidate and movie star Lito Lapid. Even in the southern city of General Santos, the vote tally showed key Arroyo bet, world superfeatherweight boxing champion, Manny Pacquiao, as likely to lose his bid for a congressional seat to an anti-Arroyo rival despite Pacquiaos huge popularity. More than 70 per cent of the 45 million eligible voters turned out on Monday to cast their ballots in midterm elections for thousands of local and provincial posts, the entire 275-seat House of Representatives and half the 24-seat Senate. Posted by: Fred 2007-05-19 |
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