MANILA, Philippines - ABS-CBN's Halalan 2010 coverage set a new record after the hashtag "halalan" became the third trending topic on Twitter on Monday, election day.

The hashtag #halalan was third on Twitter trending topics worldwide as of 4:05 p.m., beating 16-year-old Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber, who moved to the 7th spot.

A screenshot from Twitter.com.

#Halalan is still in the top 10 position as of posting, and the hashtag is expected to attract more Twitter users as the election fever heats up further.

"Halalan" is the Filipino word for elections, and is the name of ABS-CBN's coverage of the country's first automated polls.

Filipinos have begun voting early Monday for a successor to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has stayed in power for 9 years.

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