Philippine opposition leads Senate race

The Philippine opposition was ahead in the Senate race, voting trends showed on Tuesday, but President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was expected to retain crucial control of the lower house in congressional elections.
Unofficial exit polls from Monday's election showed the opposition winning six of 12 Senate races, down from an earlier lead of 8, with administration candidates ahead in four and independents in two. Final results could take up to one month.
At least 126 people were killed in the violence-marred campaign and polling, but financial markets surged to record highs because the election went off relatively smoothly. At least 189 people were killed in the last election in 2004.
"We're still in the important and crucial period," national deputy police chief, Avelino Razon, told reporters, warning of further bloodshed as manual counting drags on.
Two teachers were killed on Tuesday when the schoolhouse where they were counting votes was attacked by armed men and set on fire. The police said it suspected the communist New People's Army (NPA) were behind the attack. The police also accused the Maoist group of trying to obstruct counting in villages south of Manila.
Gunshots, grenades and explosives have been used to intimidate election inspectors but violence is normal in Philippine polls, where rival clans slug it out for lucrative public positions.
The Commission on Elections, which oversees polling, said massive cheating had not occured but admitted that some voters had been disenfranchised and that voting forms were stolen. Before the election, analysts had predicted that the opposition would win six of the 12 Senate seats being contested, the administration four and independents two.
The latest trend was from a survey of 10,600 voters carried out by pollster PulseAsia and local news network ABS-CBN. Actual counting for the House of Representatives will not start until Friday after returns for local positions are tallyed. Counting for the Senate will likely begin next week. Voting was held on Monday to fill the 275-member House of Representatives, half the 24-seat Senate and about 18,000 local government posts.
In the town of Batangas, about 90 km (55 miles) south of Manila, police said five gunmen stormed a schoolhouse where votes were being counted early on Tuesday, poured gasoline on ballot papers and set them on fire. Two teachers who had taken refuge in a toilet were trapped by the flames and died, they said. Up to 10 observers were injured.