Defeated congressmen likely to delay canvassing

While senators adopted their canvassing rules without a cinch Tuesday during the first day of joint session, it took their counterparts at the House of Representatives more than an hour to approve their rules after a handful of congressmen took the floor to express their manifestations. According to Citizens Battle Against Corruption (Cibac) party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva, this was a glimpse of what the public should expect to happen throughout the joint committee canvassing of votes for president and vice-president. Villanueva, who is on his third and last term as a lawmaker, said he would no longer be surprised if during the canvassing the senators would keep their mouths shut while congressmen would be up and about, airing objections and clarifications one after the other. In an interview with GMANews.TV after the first day of the joint congressional meet, Villanueva predicted that it would be outgoing congressmen defeated in the recently concluded May 10 automated elections who are most likely to delay the canvassing. "Kapag dumating rin ang [pag-bilang ng certificates of canvass sa] distrito na kung saan ang miyembro ng Kamara ay natalo, asahan mo na magiging maingay iyan," said Villanueva, son of twice defeated presidential aspirant Bro. Eddie Villanueva. [When certificates of canvass from districts where incumbent congressmen have lost last May 10 are checked, expect these defeated lawmakers to raise hell.]

Villanueva said delays are most likely to be encountered not on the canvassing of votes itself, but on the approval of the joint committee report on the canvassing. "Iyon siguro ang mas matagal kasi lots of questions will be raised kapag binuksan ang COCs, again mostly from members of the House who lost in the elections," he said. (That will probably take longer because of the questions that will be raised during the opening of the COCs by defeated members of the House of Representatives.) Based on canvassing rules, the joint committee shall approve its report by a majority vote of all its members, each panel voting separately. After which, the joint committee report will also have to be approved by a majority of the members of both chambers along with a resolution proclaiming the next president and vice president. Villanueva also expected the canvassing of the votes for the vice presidential race to be "exciting," saying Congress was still "half and half." While the presidential race is likely to be won by Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III — who is ahead of his closest rival by a wide margin in the unofficial tally — the vice presidential derby sees a neck-and-neck race between former Makati mayor Jejomar Binay and Sen. Manuel "Mar" Roxas. The exact same fear of a delayed vice presidential canvassing had prompted other lawmakers to bring up the matter during the first day of the joint session. Alagad party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta expressed fears that a delay in the canvassing of either the presidential or vice presidential votes might lead to non-simultaneous proclamations. House Speaker Prospero Nograles assured that this would not happen. But Villanueva remained confident that Congress — sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) — would be able to beat the June 30 deadline set by the 1987 Constitution to proclaim the two top posts in the land. - KBK, GMANews.TV