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House leader insists Congress should proceed with canvassing amid SC petition vs Marcos


For House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez, the Congress should push through with the canvassing of votes for president and vice president next week.

Rodriguez's statement came after a petition to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in Eleksyon 2022 reached the Supreme Court (SC).

The petition also asked the High Tribunal to stop the canvassing of votes cast for Marcos and his proclamation should he win.

"We have a constitutional duty to perform, and we should do it unless the Supreme Court stops us,” Rodriguez said on Tuesday.

"Clearly, the Constitution directs us to do the canvass. It even sets a timeline. We have to carry out this mandate, unless and until there is a restraining order from the Supreme Court,” he added.

Rodriguez cited Paragraph 4, Section 4 of Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, which states that:

“The returns of every election for President and Vice President, duty certified by the board of canvassers of each province or city, shall be transmitted to the Congress, directed to the President of the Senate. Upon receipt of the certificates of canvass, the President of the Senate shall, not later than thirty days after the day of the election, open all certificates in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives in joint public session, and the Congress, upon determination of the authenticity and due execution thereof in the manner provided by law, canvass the votes.”

It added that: "The person having the highest number of votes shall be proclaimed elected, but in case two or more shall have an equal and highest number of votes, one of them shall forthwith be chosen by the vote of a majority of all the Members of both Houses of the Congress, voting separately.”

The lawmaker warned his colleagues against possible efforts by some sectors to use the cases in the SC to disrupt the canvassing of votes.

"The tabulation should proceed smoothly and speedily, after which, Congress should determine and proclaim the winners,” Rodriguez said.

GMA News Online has contacted Marcos' camp to get their comment on the petition but it has yet to reply as of posting time.—AOL, GMA News

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