Arroyo expects to win majority

"We are happy enough with the majority": Arroyo

MANILA, Philippines -- Philippine's president has said she expects eight candidates from her coalition to win seats, allowing her to push legislation through Congress.

"I think we have a comfortable cushion to push worthwhile legislation," Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told a news conference on Tuesday.

According to the snail's-pace count by the Commission on Elections, Arroyo's ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) took eight out of 13 senatorial seats up for grabs.

Former president Joseph Estrada's Power of the Masses (PnM) got four, while an independent who has won the most votesm, was expected to take the thirteen slot.

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Complete results are not likely to be announced for two more weeks.

Nine for majority

The Philippine Senate, considered the most important body in the country after the presidency, has 24 members, and Arroyo said three of the 11 already in the legislature were government supporters.

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She said three other incumbent senators, who are independent, had told her they would support the administration.

Analysts have said the PPC had to win at least nine of the contested Senate seats to secure an undisputed majority in the legislature and ensure the passage of key economic reform measures.

The entire 262-member House of Representatives is also being contested, but no definite trends have emerged in those races yet.

Respect will of the people

Arroyo, who took power at the height of a military-backed people's power revolution that ended Estrada's 31-month rule, said she did not see the apparent victory of some opposition candidates in the senatorial races as a repudiation of her administration.

"We have the majority, how do you call that a repudiation?" she asked, as quoted by Reuters. "We respect the will of the people and we are happy enough with the majority."

Among the opposition candidates leading in the incomplete senate vote count was Luisa "Loi" Estrada, wife of the former president.

"It's the will of the people, we respect the will of the people," Arroyo said, when asked about Loi's seeming victory. "Let's just say people voted for worthy candidates.

Guns, goons and gold

While Arroyo said she was happy about the likely victory of her coalition, she also called for reforms in the electoral process and a "new revolution against guns, goons and gold."

She said the slow count of the votes cast in the May 14 national and congressional elections had dampened investor interest in the local stock market.

"I understand that the stock market is trading thinly because they are not happy with the delay in the counting and that's why I said it's really time for us to bring our electoral process into the 21st century," she said.

Traders say interest has dwindled in the stock market because investors are waiting on the sidelines for definitive clues on the polls.

Votes are counted manually across the country and tallies are then taken to provincial and regional headquarters for further checks.

Over 100 people were killed in violence during the campaign and vote count, making the elections the bloodiest in the country in more than a decade.

Reuters contributed to this report.