By Erma Edera

After more than one day of canvassing, former vice mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso was proclaimed as the new mayor of Manila, dethroning incumbent mayor Joseph Ejercito “Erap” Estrada on Tuesday afternoon.

After taking a three-year hiatus from politics, Domagoso garnered 357, 925 votes (56%) based on election returns from 1,502 clustered precincts in Manila.

He is followed by Estrada with 210,605 votes (33%). He said he could not believe that he lost even in his own barangay.

The final results of the tally showed Barangay 571 taken at P. Burgos Elementary School in Sta. Mesa, Manila showed Domagoso led with 515 votes while Estrada only got 451 votes.

On the other hand, Domagoso also defeated Alfredo Lim, of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan who garnered 138, 923 votes (22%). Five other candidates had combined votes of 27,036.

Domagoso’s running mate, Honey Lacuna was also proclaimed as vice mayor of the nation’s capital with 394, 766 votes (62%) followed by former Manila 5th district representative Amado Bagatsing, Estrada’s running mate, by a wide lead with 267, 286 votes.

Four other candidates had combined votes of 27,036.

Moreno and Lacuna are running under the banner of “Asenso Manileño party.”

“Natanggap na natin ang hatol ng bayan, at malaking hamon ang aming haharapin ni Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna sa pagtupad ng ating pangarap na maiangat ang antas ng pamumuhay sa Lungsod ng Maynila,” Domagoso said.

“Ito na ang panahon para tayong mga Batang Maynila ay magtulungan at magkaisa tungo sa ating pangarap para maiangat ang antas ng pamumuhay sa Lungsod ng Maynila,” he added.

On Monday night, Moreno’s lawyer said the request to lower the threshold has been approved by the City Board of Canvassers.

However, there was a delay in relaying the passcode from Comelec NCR to the city canvassers.

The City of Manila has 922,961 registered voters, but only 637,233 actually voted on Monday.

Domagoso, who had been Manila vice mayor from 2007 to 2016, had aborted his plan to run for mayor when former president Joseph

Estrada first sought the mayorship of Manila in 2016.

He also decided to run for senator in the 2016 polls.

He was appointed by Duterte on May 8 as undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The President also appointed Domagoso to the North Luzon Railways Corp. but he also resigned in October 2017 because of “personal reasons.”