MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday declared Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) as the dominant majority party and the Nacionalista Party (NP) as the dominant minority party for the midterm polls.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said the decision was guided by “pure math.”

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“It’s mathematical. It’s not partisan, it’s pure math. It’s simply I think the number of candidates being fielded, the number of positions occupied as incumbents,” Jimenez said in an interview.

“Parang paramihan nang nakaupo ganon (It depends on the number of incumbent officials),” he added.

According to the poll body, PDP-Laban obtained 55.74 points while the NP obtained 35.87 points, so they were the dominant majority and minority parties.

PDP-Laban and NP are then entitled to the following: the fifth and sixth copies of election returns (ERs), respectively, from the vote counting machines; electronically-transmitted precinct results; the seventh and eighth copies of the Certificates of Canvass (COCs), respectively; and official watchers in every polling place and canvassing center.

Polling precincts will open at 6 a.m. on Monday for the start of the national and local elections and will close at 6 p.m. of the same day.

Comelec said it would officially convene its session for canvassing by 3 p.m. at the Philippine International Convention Center. /ee

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