FALSE: Samira Gutoc gets zero vote in Mandaluyong

Claim: Otso Diretso candidate Samira Gutoc got zero votes in some precincts in Mandaluyong City.

Twitter user Mark Alba, with handle name @chaalba, tweeted a photo on May 13 showing a supposed tally of a manual count of votes for national and local elections.

The photo shows what appears to be a Bulletin board post entitled, “operation quick count.”

The bulletin board post lists only 31 of 63 senatorial candidates with corresponding numbers in 6 separate columns. On top of each column, are 3-digit numbers not specifically labeled.

However, the complete row for Gutoc appears to be blank, implying that there was no supposed vote for her. In the fifth column, only 11 candidates have indicated votes while the rest also have empty cells.

The caption of the tweet says, “Sure akong binoto ko at ng pamilya ko si Samira Gutoc pero bakit sa Brgy namin, naka blank siya? (I am sure that my family and I voted for Samira Gutoc, but why does she have no votes in our barangay?) 

The post was retweeted 10,335 times with 28,542 likes and 244 comments.

The claim also went viral on Facebook through a post by Facebook user Jhun Conga who asked why Gutoc has no votes at all in the entire city of Mandaluyong. 

The website philnews.ph also published an article with the claim. The article has been shared 20 times on Facebook gaining over 20,000 interactions.

The claim was spotted on Facebook as it has gone viral.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: No precinct in Mandaluyong City gave Samira Gutoc zero votes.

Data published on the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) website and released via the Comelec’s Transparency and Media Servers for the 2019 election results show that Gutoc received a total of 478 votes in 6 clustered precincts of Barangay San Jose in Mandaluyong City. Gutoc got a total of 24,208 votes from 27 barangays in Mandaluyong City. 

Asked about the photograph of the bulletin board, Alba told Rappler that the photo was taken in front of the Filemon Elementary School in the said barangay.

The 3-digit numbers on top of the columns are the last digits of the vote-counting machine (VCM) IDs.

The following data show the share of votes of each precinct for Gutoc:

Since the 2010 elections, the Comelec adapted the automated election system using Smartmatic’s vote-counting machines. (READ: How does the PH automated election system work?) – Glenda Marie Castro with Michael Bueza and Cherline Trajano/Rappler.com

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