Nearly a week has passed since the May 14 elections.

In an increasing number of localities, the winning candidates for local government positions are being proclaimed. In other localities, the election results are still being canvassed or contested. This incoming week, we will be looking with more certainty at the trends of how the various political groups fared at the local level.

Nevertheless, even a cursory glance at the results here in Baguio and four out of six Cordillera provinces – Apayao, Ifugao, Mtn. Province, and Benguet – strongly point to the trend that most local incumbents, directly or through their chosen successors, have ensured their continued hold on power at the provincial and city level.

At the national level, public attention remains riveted to the senatorial race, which is seen by most pundits as really a battle between GMA and the anti-GMA opposition. The trend is not surprising; political analysts and pollsters have earlier predicted a near-sweep of the 12 senatorial seats by the opposition candidates.

The one surprising trend in the senatorial race is the strong performance shown so far by two rebel soldiers identified with the restive anti-GMA factions in the AFP: former Senator and ex-Army Col. Gringo Honasan (currently on 9th spot in the NAMFREL tally), and Navy Lt. Antonio Trillanes (currently ranked 11th).

This is a big eye-opener, something not predicted by pre-election polls, because – as PDI columnist Raul Pangalangan put it – the 1.3 million who voted for Honasan and Trillanes represent a sizeable chunk of citizenry who are “prepared to get rid of President Arroyo whatever it takes.”

However, it is too early for the anti-GMA opposition to celebrate. The most crucial battle remains in which political bloc controls the Lower House. And this is where the current situation remains murky. The national media as well as election watchdogs are barely reporting and analyzing overall trends about the congressional race in general.

The ordinary citizen may clearly see, at this point, who among the various candidates have won in his congressional district. But this is different from having an overall view, based on poll results, of how much the Lower House is being recomposed or retained. If we are to judge from Northern Luzon politics, candidates allied with GMA have dominated the elections.

Worse, there appears to be a concerted effort not only to clip the votes of the ant-GMA party-list groups and to favor pro-GMA party-list groups, but to prevent media from seeing the real situation in the party-list elections.

These trends in the Lower House vote are bad omens, not only for anti-GMA groups planning to push for a third impeachment attempt, but for the public at large, who clearly want their legislators to be more active fiscalizers – as seen in the senatorial race.

In short, it is too premature for anti-GMA groups to pour out the champagne. They should in fact be ready to pour out more sweat, if not blood, to protest election fraud and to prevent another Frankenstein Congress from making a mockery of our democratic processes.

The electoral battles aren’t over yet! #