Congressional canvass moved up to May 24
By Jess Diaz and Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star) Updated May 15, 2010 12:00
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MANILA, Philippines - Eight of the 12 winning candidates for the Senate will be proclaimed in record time
today by the Commission on Elections, but the nation will have to wait another week before Congress
begins canvassing votes for president and vice president.
Speaker Prospero Nograles told reporters yesterday that he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile had
agreed to move up the start of the congressional canvass from May 31, when Congress is scheduled to
resume session, to May 24.
Earlier, Nograles said mustering a quorum would not be a problem in the House of Representatives once it
convenes, together with the Senate, for an early canvass of votes for president and vice president.
Nograles gave the assurance as problems with attendance threaten to spoil lawmakers’ plan to hold the
canvassing earlier than the May 31 schedule.
“When we decide on a certain date (for the canvass), I will campaign for attendance and I do not think I will
have a quorum problem because we need to do a constitutional duty,” Nograles said.
He was referring to the constitutional mandate for senators and congressmen to tabulate presidential and
vice presidential votes and proclaim the winners.
There are concerns among lawmakers that some of their “graduating” colleagues as well as those who
failed in their reelection bids might choose not to show up during the canvass.
Congress cannot convene as a canvassing board without a quorum. Nograles said he is amenable to the
proposal of Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, who is House senior deputy majority leader, to start an
early canvass on May 24, or a week earlier than the scheduled resumption of the congressional session on
May 31.
He also indicated that in the canvassing process, Congress would look into reports and claims by some
candidates about alleged election fraud.
“Many of us want to know and try to understand some of the areas where there are allegations of pre-
programmed determined results by the (precinct count optical scan) machines,” he said.
In particular, the camp of former President Joseph Estrada is alleging that fraud has benefited presidential
race frontrunner Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.
In the unofficial tally of votes by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Parish Pastoral Council for
Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and giant television networks, Aquino is leading Estrada, his closest
opponent, by more than five million votes.
Despite Aquino’s wide lead, the deposed president has refused to concede.
He told ABS-CBN News Channel early this week that he would accept the result of the congressional
canvass and would not protest it if it is established that he really lost to Aquino.
Some House allies of Aquino said the plan of Estrada’s camp might delay the vote tally.
“It could become a protracted proceeding. It could become a repeat of the 2004 presidential canvass, which
took more than two weeks,” one congressman said.
He said Nograles and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, an Estrada ally, would play a key role in the
Congress tally since they would preside over it, although they could delegate such role.
Enrile has apparently won a new term under Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, along with Estrada’s
son Jinggoy.
During the congressional canvass of the results of the 2004 elections, allies of then presidential candidate
Fernando Poe Jr. led by Sen. Edgardo Angara tried to have Congress examine the precinct-level election
returns, but were turned down by the canvassing board.
Meanwhile, the Comelec has expressed hopes that the fruits of the automated polls would not be wasted by
a delayed start of the canvassing of votes for president and vice president.
“It’s their prerogative obviously and traditionally that’s when they do it,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez
said, referring to the lawmakers’ mandate to canvass the results.
“But then again the practice of doing it in the last week of May – maybe you can think of it as an artifact of the
manual system,” he said.
“We are used to it but we don’t want to see the gains of the automation not maximized,” he added.
8 senators proclaimed today
The Comelec is set to make history when it proclaims today the top eight winning senators just five days
after the polls.
“This is the fastest. Before, it took weeks to canvass. This is the fastest in history,” said Commissioner
Gregorio Larrazabal.
He said this year’s election may earn a place in history for having “the most number of presidential
candidates to concede even before the start of the official count.”
Larrazabal said the top eight senatorial bets are already assured of victory even if the canvassing of votes is
not yet complete.
Based on canvassed results as of 11 a.m. yesterday, Ramon Revilla was still leading with 15 million votes.
Trailing Revilla was Jinggoy Estrada (14.5 million), Miriam Defensor-Santiago (13.3 million), Franklin Drilon
(12.3 million), Juan Ponce Enrile (12.1 million), Pilar Juliana Cayetano (10.6 million), Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
(10 million), Ralph Recto (9.8 million), Sergio Osmeña III (9.3 million), Vicente Sotto III (9.2 million), Manuel
Lapid (8.5 million) and Teofisto Guingona III (8.2 million).
Not in a hurry
Despite the certainty of victory, Aquino said he is no hurry to get proclaimed and would rather leave it up to
Congress to decide when to convene as the National Board of Canvassers.
“I would leave it up to Congress to decide on the (schedule) of the canvassing,” he said in a text message to
The STAR.
Aquino is in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac as a security precaution while waiting for his proclamation, and as
advised by retired Air Force Major Gen. Jose Angel Aquino Honrado, who is in charge of his security.
Honrado had also served Aquino’s late mother during her six-year term. With Sheila Crisostomo and Delon
Porcalla
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9 senators proclaimed
By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated May 16, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines – As testament to the record speed of the automated election system, the Commission
on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed yesterday the first nine new senators just five days after the May 10 polls.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said it would continue with its count despite
the partial proclamation.
Officially declared winners in the senatorial race were Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), Sen.
Jinggoy Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino), Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino), Sen.
Pia Cayetano (Nacionalista Party), Sen. Ralph Recto (Liberal Party), and Sen. Vicente Sotto III (Nationalist
People’s Coalition).
Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (People’s Reform Party), Sen. Franklin Drilon (Liberal Party) and Ferdinand
Marcos Jr. (NP) were also proclaimed but did not show up.
A staff of Santiago said the senator was out of town, while Marcos had already gone back to Ilocos Norte.
Drilon, for his part, said he was in a meeting during the proclamation because he had been notified only at 1
p.m.
The proclamation ceremony was held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City where
the canvassing of the votes for senators and party-list groups was made.
Celebration
“After the Comelec’s long struggle to automate the country’s electoral system, and after the candidates’
equally difficult campaign to secure the mandate of the people, we are here today to celebrate the rewards of
all our hard work and dedication,” Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said in his opening speech.
In previous elections, it took the Comelec almost a month to proclaim winning senators.
Melo noted for the poll body, “this proclamation ceremony is the cornerstone upon which we shall begin to
rebuild public trust and confidence in the Commission.”
“For the senators-elect, this proclamation ceremony represents the clear vox populi, speaking with the
transcendent authority of the vox dei: You are our representatives. You are our champions. Do not let us
down,” he added.
As of 11 am yesterday, the Comelec had canvassed 96 certificates of canvass (COCs) from local votes and
19 from overseas absentee voting. So far, the poll body has already received 115 of the 274 COCs.
Based on canvassed COCs, Revilla was leading the senatorial race with 18,218,514 votes followed by
Estrada with 17,722,162 votes, Defensor-Santiago (16,066,001), Drilon (14,770,612), Enrile (14,695,263),
Cayetano (12,821,946), Marcos (12,372,118), Recto (11.640,679) and Sotto (11,160,077).
Old faces
Aside from Revilla, the other re-electionists are Cayetano, Defensor-Santiago and Enrile. Drilon, Recto and
Sotto, on the other hand, are “returnees” while Marcos is a neophyte.
The 52-year-old Marcos served three terms as governor in Ilocos Norte, and was a congressman before his
election to the Senate.
His mother, Imelda Marcos, won a seat in the House of Representatives, and his eldest sister, former Rep.
Imee Marcos, was elected governor of Ilocos Norte.
Marcos had earlier told reporters he may seek to use the Senate to clear his father’s name and as a
springboard to the presidency in the 2016 election.
“I would like to take this political career that I have embarked upon as far as it can go,” he said when he
announced his senatorial bid late last year.
“The ultimate position is to be president,” Marcos said.
Leading the presidential race is Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, 50, whose mother and father opposed
Ferdinand Marcos’ iron-fisted rule, campaigned largely on his family name and promised to follow the
legacy of his parents, who are regarded as heroes in the country’s democratic struggle against the Marcos
dictatorship.
It was only after his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, died of cancer last August that he decided to
run, spurred by the massive outpouring of national grief for the leader who helped oust Marcos in 1986.
She inherited the mantle of her husband, Benigno Aquino Jr., an opposition senator gunned down by
soldiers at the then Manila International Airport in
1983 upon his return from US exile to challenge Marcos. The airport has since been renamed after him.
No effect
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the agency decided to proceed with the proclamation of the nine
senators because a continuation of the canvass would no longer affect their standing. The new senators will
serve for six years.
“Even if we canvass the uncanvassed COCs, it will not materially affect the votes obtained by these
senators,” Jimenez said.
Based on the last canvassed results, former senator Sergio Osmena III was in the 10th place with
10,996,061 votes while re-electionist Manuel Lapid was in the 11th slot with 13,327,121 votes. The 12th and
last slot seems to be a tossup between former congressman Teofisto Guingona III with 9,686,352 votes and
Akbayan party-list representative Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel with 8,581,125 votes.
In an ambush interview, Revilla pushed for unity under the leadership of president-apparent Aquino.
“Now, there should no longer be opposition and administration. We should unite, stop bickering, or nothing
will happen to our country,” he added.
Cayetano said she would push harder for her advocacies on health and environment “to improve the country’
s economy.”
Sotto said he would push for the creation of special drug courts to speed up the prosecution of drug related
cases.
He also promised to put in place a free rehabilitation program for drug dependents.
“Our problem on narcotics is grave. Based on the statistics from the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) and the
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, we have more than a hundred thousand drug cases filed and the
regional trial courts are also clogged,” Sotto, a former chair of DDB, said.
“I thank them for trusting me again and I congratulate all the Filipinos for a successful election,” he said after
his proclamation.
Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, for his part, clarified that whoever gets the 13th slot may not
automatically replace the Senate seat to be vacated by Aquino.
“That can’t happen unless there is a prior announcement that we have to elect 13 senators (to fill in
vacancies). I think it happened when then Sen. Teofisto Guingona was appointed vice president in 2001
(after the People Power 2),” Ferrer added. - With Evelyn Macairan, Aie Balagtas See
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