KNP accepts canvass rules

The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) accepted yesterday the rules of canvass approved by Congress and expressed confidence that the Senate and the House convened as the National Board of Canvassers will finish its job of canvassing the votes for president and vice president by June 15.

The 1987 Constitution provides that the official canvassing of votes for president and vice president should be completed before June 30, when the winners of the presidential and vice presidential race are to assume their posts.

Albeit half-heartedly, the KNP has accepted the rules of canvassing approved by Congress in a joint session after midnight Friday.

KNP spokesman Mike Romero said the rules are "okay."

He said that while Congress rejected the amendment proposed by KNP chairman Sen. Edgardo Angara, the KNP finds solace in the fact that Republic Act 7166 specifies that the certificates of canvass (COCs) to be submitted to Congress in a joint session should be accompanied by the statement of votes (SOV) from the cities and municipalities and the election returns (ERs) from the precinct level.

Angara "wanted the specific provision listed and incorporated into the rules, but it’s provided for in the law already, so he also withdrew his amendment. Even if the COC is clean, if we know that there has been tampering of the SOV in the city or town, we still have to check (the SOV)," Romero said.

Angara wanted the Commission on Elections to submit the allocation list of election paraphernalia to Congress. Romero said the KNP was set yesterday to send the Comelec a letter requesting that it provide the KNP with the allocation table of COCs and ERs.

He said the KNP would also have preferred that the national canvassing be done in a full plenary session, but respected the vote of the majority that it be done by a joint committee.

He also said that opposition Senators Loren Legarda, Vicente Sotto III and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. registered their objection to the canvass by committee "as a matter of formality and principle."

KNP standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. welcomed the start of the national canvass tomorrow and reiterated his request that questionable COCs be properly scrutinized for transparency and to prove the credibility of the May 10 elections, his spokesman, Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero, told reporters.

"It is but right that the canvassing should begin and we hope that this will proceed without interruption and that it will be transparent," Escudero said in Filipino. "The questionable COCs should be scrutinized so any shred of doubt will be removed."

He also said credibility and transparency should not be sacrificed for speed in the national canvassing of votes.

"Whoever wins or loses, everybody should accept that," he said. "The mandate of the next president should be clear and with no doubts. That would be better than a quick canvassing that still leaves room for doubt."

Romero said the opposition wants to see Congress finish the canvassing before June 30, as the KNP opposes a "no-proclamation" scenario.

"It should be finished by June 15," Romero said, expressing confidence that the eight-hour a day, five day a week schedule of the joint canvassing committee is sufficient.

For Escudero, Romero’s timetable is "very realistic. The canvassing could even be finished in one and a half weeks."

He also said that, despite the presence of more opposition lawmakers in the joint committee canvassing the votes for president and vice president, the administration still has the upper hand because it has greater representation. "When there are conflicts to be resolved in the process, we would still lose," Escudero said.

He also confirmed that the KNP did not have enough poll watchers guarding the ballots. "They said we lacked people in the field. They said we did not have enough funds for poll watchers. That is true and that is why not all areas had (KNP) watchers. It is in these areas where we were cheated and we have evidence of that," he said.

Lawyers for Poe are expected to question 15 COCs from Cebu, Iloilo, Bohol and several provinces in Mindanao.

Romero said the KNP is expecting the lawyers for President Arroyo to zero in on COC from the National Capital Regions (NCR), Southern Tagalog and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative and the Bicol Region.

Meanwhile, Poe supporters continue their prayer vigils to guard against electoral fraud despite violent dispersals by riot police at the St. Peter the Apostle Church along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

Peaceful prayer vigils, the FPJ Communication Group said in a statement, will be "held in different parts of Metro Manila and other provinces and cities in the country."

National Coordinating Center of Volunteers for FPJ president actor Rez Cortez and the group’s spokesman, Linggoy Alcuaz, said Poe’s supporters are not violating any law by merely standing vigil to ensure the canvassing process will be "fair and accurate."

Hundreds of Poe’s supporters were dispersed by riot police from the St. Peter the Apostle Church during their vigil. However, these Poe supporters regrouped at the Quezon Memorial Circle and lit candles around the park to announce their determination to maintain vigilance for an honest vote-count.

Organizations supporting Poe have asked their followers and the general public to join in their "fasting for truth in the electoral process, especially in the canvassing, where the election returns should reflect the true will of the people."

Cortez said thousands of ordinary folk have already manifested their desire to join the movement.

Concerned Entrepreneurs and Professionals for Progress president Patrick Caoile said the vigils for truthful canvassing should be held peacefully and within the bounds of the law.

Hundreds of members of KASAMA headed by Edwin Nakpil and the People’s Movement Against Mass Poverty led by Ronald Lumbao will join the vigils.

Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino president Horacio Morales said ordinary citizens who join such movements and vigils should not be treated as pariahs. He said they should be protected by the government in the exercise of their right to freedom of expression and to peaceably assemble for redress of grievances.

"The officials of government have pledged to uphold the Constitution," Morales said. "They are duty bound to protect citizens who merely exercise their rights under the mantle of the Constitution."