No official winner yet in Caloocan mayoral race

Two Facebook posts falsely declared mayoral candidates Dale “Along” Malapitan and Antonio Trillanes IV as winners in the Caloocan City race hours before the polls closed and well before any official results were released.

At 5:58 p.m. on May 12, an anonymous post in the public Facebook group Caloocan City News and Updates prematurely claimed victory for Malapitan, the incumbent mayor. It said:

CONGRATS tapos na botohan panalo na si Mayor Malapitan (Congrats, the voting is over—Mayor Malapitan has already won)!

Earlier, at 5:06 p.m., Facebook user Apple Samantha Solano posted on her timeline that Trillanes was the new mayor:

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS 🎉🎈🥳🎈 TO MAYOR TRILLANES NEW MAYOR KASALANAN NG MGA LEADER YAN NI MAYOR ALONG KAYA NATALO NA BULSA BA NAMAN NILA UNG AYUDA EH DAPAT ANG SISIHIN JAN UNG MGA LEADER NI ALONG MALAPITAN MGA SAKIM KASE (It’s the fault of Mayor Along’s leaders—that’s why he lost. They were even pocketing the aid money. Along Malapitan’s leaders are to blame—they’re greedy).

Solano also shared the message in the Facebook group, but later deleted it. The post remains visible on her personal timeline as of writing.

Another false claim spread online that Trillanes had conceded, recycling a news card from the 2022 elections that was shared as if it were about this year’s Caloocan mayoral race.

The declarations were made before the official end of voting, which is scheduled from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Under Section 206, Article XVIII of the Omnibus Election Code, vote counting begins only after voting and must take place publicly at the polling precinct by the Board of Election Inspectors. No official winner may be proclaimed or assumed before that process concludes.

Spreading false information about the conduct or results of elections is punishable under Section 261(z)(11) of the code. It is punishable by one to six years in prison– without probation– disqualification from public office and loss of voting rights.

Aside from Malapitan and Trillanes, Richard Cañete, Ronnie Malunes and Danny Villanueva are running for mayor. (ACS)