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Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Drilon allays fears of railroading of canvassing
SENATE President Franklin Drilon reiterated that there will be "no railroading" as Congress started opening ballot boxes consisting of Certificates of Canvass (COCs) of votes for president and vice president Monday.
Drilon dismissed the claim of the opposition that the canvassing would be favorable to President Arroyo.
"We are performing a very important Constitutional mandate. The Filipino people who will be following these canvassing proceedings very closely on national television, will never allow any railroading of any candidate's proclamation as claimed by the opposition," Drilon said.
Earlier, the opposition claimed that the approved canvassing rules were designed to favor President Arroyo and her proclamation.
Drilon said the approved rules were basically a verbatim copy of the 1992 and 1998 rules, which have proclaimed the winners of 1992 and 1998 presidential elections.
Drilon appealed anew to the minority "to try to rise above the level of partisan politics and avoid issuing self-serving statements that could only discredit the process as mandated by the Constitution."
"The basic principles of fairness, transparency and expediency which would enable us to proclaim a new President and Vice president," Drilon added.
Drilon also said the public may use their own judgment to determine who's between the two camps is causing the delay in the canvassing.
"Kayo na ang bahalang tumingin kung sino ang nagde-delay (You decide who is causing the delay). Certainly, I am not the one delaying," Drilon said.
When asked if the administration lawmakers are to be blamed, Drilon stressed that it's all grandstanding on the part of the opposition.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said the opposition's accusation of the railroading of the canvassing is "baseless and uncalled for."
"It is obviously unfounded and baseless. If the past week of lengthy debates on the proposed rules is any indication, if indeed there has been any railroading, it has been a horribly slow train," Pangilinan said.
Opposition Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, for his part, said "the deplorable behavior of the administration senators and congressmen only showed that they were the ones, and not the opposition, who were derailing and delaying the canvassing process."
"On the whole, it was the wish of the majority that prevailed in the approved rules. The opposition was inhibited from pushing for the amendments to the rules intended to check instances of cheating," Pimentel said.
Meanwhile, presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson Monday formalized his intention to inhibit himself from the joint canvassing by Congress sitting as members of the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) "out of delicadeza (propriety)."
Lacson said he sent a letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon to inform the Upper Chamber that he would not be joining the canvassing and even the joint session since he was a candidate in the elections.
Lacson said he is doing this to show an example of strong and decent leadership.
"It is in the spirit of propriety that I do so," added Lacson, who ran as presidential bet of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and placed third based on partial and unofficial results of the canvassing by the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel).
Sens. Noli de Castro and Loren Legarda, both vice presidential candidates, were not also allowed to join the joint committee that would canvass the votes.
Lacson sent his lawyers to monitor the proceedings and also said he would send representatives in the canvassing.
In Malacañang, the administration Monday welcomed the start of the canvassing and expressed hope that it would be credible and would run smoothly, even if slow.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said questions on the canvassing should be confined to Congress, instead of taking them to the media. He reminded the opposition that "the people are waiting for the official results of the elections."
He said allegations that the committee rules favor President Arroyo are part of "posturing." He said dilatory tactics deepen the public's anxieties and erode the people's faith in democracy.
"We can appreciate the delays in the canvassing occasioned by strict adherence to the Constitutional process but the process itself must not be held hostage by undemocratic designs. The canvass must be a demonstration of statesmanship, not a prolonged media spectacle as some would want it," he said.
He said administration and opposition lawmakers should approach the canvassing with a sense of "historic responsibility." He said the opposition has been given "all the reasonable leeway" to question the procedures and now, they have to stick to the approved rules.
He expressed confidence that a winner will be proclaimed on or before the deadline of June 30.
Bunye said the Palace welcomes the calls of former president Joseph Estrada and Fernando Poe Jr. to their supporters for sobriety as "a good start (and) a good call for unity."
He said the part of Poe's full-page advertisement calling on his supporters to refrain from resorting to protests was "very positive" but government objects to the part that claims that the administration was engaged in fraud.
He said law enforcers will observe maximum tolerance in dealing with protesters "but there's a line they cannot cross, otherwise the police would crack down on protests that are getting out of line." JPM/JMR
(June 1, 2004 issue)
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