Drilon: Canvassing will be fair, transparent

Senate President Franklin Drilon assured the public yesterday that the canvassing to be jointly conducted by the Senate and the House of Representatives will be "fair, transparent and expeditious."

Drilon also directed Senate Secretary Oscar Yabes to immediately confer with House Secretary General Roberto Nazareno to review and finalize the rules covering the joint public sessions of Congress which, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, will canvass the votes for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

"This process must be transparent. The entire proceedings will be open to media and to the public and I am confident that Congress will be able to perform its job, given all this public attention, with impartiality," he said.

Drilon specifically ordered Yabes to make sure the rules are "fair, transparent and expeditious" so the canvassing of votes will be thorough and impartial.

The two chambers of Congress will need at least 10 sessions to finish the canvassing of votes, he added. The Senate and the House of Representatives are set to convene into the National Board of Canvassers on May 24.

Yabes and Nazareno are set to meet next week to discuss the specifics on the time frame and procedures for the canvassing of votes.

Drilon earlier challenged opposition leaders to back their claims of poll fraud with evidence, saying he will not hesitate to exclude questionable certificates of canvass (COCs) and election returns during the canvassing once proof of any irregularity is presented.

"We will be condemned forever if we will not be able to do the job with impartiality," he said.

Drilon said the rules that will govern the canvassing should be comprehensive and expeditious to avoid delays even as he predicted that opposing political parties may contest each canvass result.

"There will be questions raised, but we will resolve them as swiftly as we can," he said.

Drilon cited that under the proposed rules covering the National Board of Canvassers, each presidential candidate is allowed two lawyers and two watchers who shall have access to an unimpeded view of the entire proceedings.

The lawyers will be authorized to orally object to questionable COCs or submit a written memorandum not later than 24 hours after an objection has been raised, he said.

Drilon also said a joint committee will be created to conduct the preliminary canvassing of votes. This 14-member committee will be composed of seven members from each chamber of Congress.

He expressed optimism that the National Board of Canvassers will speedily perform its mandate of proclaiming the new president and vice president before the end of the month.

Drilon said the Constitution provides that the winning candidates should formally take their oath of office at noon of June 30.

"I am confident that we can start on May 24 with a substantial number of COCs with us and we hope to finish the process before the end of May, depending of course on the number of COCs that will be submitted on time. I am confident that we will be able to finish it. I don’t see any delay," he said.

Drilon also downplayed the possibility of a repeat of the 1986 snap elections, during which the opposition lawmakers walked out of the session hall after then Speaker Nicanor Yniguez Jr. and other Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) stalwarts virtually railroaded the proclamation of the late Ferdinand Marcos as president.

"The conduct of the 1986 snap elections could not be compared to this year’s electoral exercise, (which is) way ahead in terms of orderliness and credibility," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, for his part, said the Senate is ready to perform its constitutional mandate as part of the National Board of Canvassers.

"We are all set and ready. Every mechanism has been put in place," he said.

Pangilinan noted that under the Constitution, the Senate and House of Representatives should meet in joint public session, not later than 30 days after the national elections are held, at the House session hall on the date and time set forth in a concurrent resolution approved by both Houses.

The Constitution also states that majority of each chamber of Congress shall constitute a quorum and in its absence, a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and the chamber concerned may compel the attendance of absent members in accord with its rules, he said.

"Of course, both houses play important roles in the canvass. What makes canvass at this level different, at least from a political prespective, is that you can easily identify the presidential and vice presidential preferences of the personalities in the canvass committee. This is not the same as in local elections, where utter impartiality is important. That’s why the challenge for us in this canvass for president and vice president is to suspend our biases and work as an impartial constitutional body," Pangilinan said.

He added that there has been a tendency in the past to transform the canvass at the Lower House into a partisan arena, where supporters of a certain candidate slug it out and debate endlessly on the returns.

"We should strive for less of that. The Constitution and the rules are silent on what the clear role of the majority leader is. But like the Senate president, both majority and minority leaders play a crucial role in ensuring that everything goes well and there are minimal hitches in the process. After all, we strive for a smooth and unproblematic canvassing of the results," Pangilinan said.