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Monday, May 31, 2004
Church heads ask: Avert delay, unrest
CEBU CITY -- Local church leaders fear a "power vacuum" with the delay in the canvassing of votes by Congress, but urged citizens to trust in the constitutional processes and to respect democracy.
The Archdiocese of Cebu, in its official publication, Ang Bag-ong Lungsoranon, noted the maneuvers of opposition lawmakers, who forced the approval of the rules of canvass to drag on for four days in the joint session of Congress.
"A power vacuum will occur if their efforts to delay the proclamation of the winners are successful. We know that when there is a vacuum, it is possible for anything that will further hurt the democracy to happen," yesterday's issue warned in Cebuano.
But once the national canvassing in the House starts today, two Cebuano representatives expect rough sailing for certificates of canvass (COCs) from Cebu, even without "a single erasure or correction."
This after opposition lawmakers, in last week's debates on the rules of canvass, alleged Cebu was the site of massive cheating in favor of President Arroyo.
So far, there has been no word if a Cebuano will be named to the 11-member contingent of the Lower House to the joint canvassing committee, but Reps. Raul del Mar and Clavel Asas-Martinez both assured that this does not mean no one will stand up to defend COCs from Cebu City and Province.
First up when both houses of Congress convene at 10 a.m. today is for Senate President Franklin Drilon and Speaker Jose de Venecia to name their representatives to the joint Senate and House committee that will canvass the votes cast for president and vice president, said del Mar.
However, the actual counting of the COCs might not start until Wednesday yet.
Opposition Rep. Fran-cis Escudero, campaign spokesman of President Arroyo's closest rival Fernando Poe Jr., earlier said on national television that the opening of the ballot boxes containing the COCs could take until Tuesday.
It took four days of intense debates last week for the joint House and Senate session just to agree on the rules of canvass. The rules were approved at close to midnight Friday. (See excerpts, 4)
Drilon yesterday announced that one of the 11 members of the contingent of the Upper Chamber will be Cebuano Sen. Sergio "Serge" Osmeņa III, to represent the opposition.
In the Lower House, Martinez (Cebu, 4th district) said de Venecia earlier asked her to be an "alternate" to one of the seven who would be named to what would have been a 14-member canvass committee.
However, she and del Mar (Cebu City, north district) both said there has been no consultation or indication of who de Venecia would pick, since it was decided to expand the committee membership from 14 to 22.
In a phone interview yesterday, del Mar said it will be Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul Gonzales who will lead the contingent of the Lower House.
Del Mar related that he already made arrangements with Gonzales earlier for the congressman from Iloilo to "make special monitoring" when the COCs from Cebu are canvassed, in case no Cebuano congressman happens to be around.
It is "arguably better" if a Cebuano is named to the committee because of questions that are sure to be raised, but del Mar noted that the congressman from the area that is contested can participate in the discussion even if he is not a committee member.
Working eight hours daily from Monday to Friday, members of the joint committee have to count 176 certificates of canvass placed in ballot boxes.
Congress, sitting as National Board of Canvassers, has until June 30 to proclaim the winners.
Rep. Ace Durano (Cebu, 5th district) earlier said the role of committee members would merely be to canvass the votes while the defense and presentation of evidence is left to lawyers of both the administration and opposition.
Besides, Martinez said that being in the committee means "getting caught in the crossfire" of lawyers from both sides.
She said also in a phone interview that the opposition will be "harping" on the results from Cebu because of President Arroyo's majority here.
She pointed out that Arroyo "made a killing" here and that this may determine her win in a close contest with Poe.
In Cebu, Arroyo got 1.185 million votes, while Poe only got 181,690 or about 15 percent of the President's total.
Cebu Gov. Pablo Garcia earlier noted that no other province or region delivered as much for the President this year.
Last week, opposition lawmakers, particularly Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., alleged there was massive poll cheating in Cebu at Poe's expense.
Criticizing these claims, the church questioned the opposition's acceptance of the results of the senatorial race, where four of their candidates made it to the top 11, if they believe the election was marred by fraud.
The archdiocese also reiterated the advice of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Archbishop Fernando Capalla for those who question the results of the elections to seek relief in courts, and not in the streets.
But while it warned that a power vacuum might cause another "People Power" in Edsa, the archdiocese said the situation can still be resolved through constitutional means.
Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south district), meanwhile, vowed to file charges before the House committee on ethics against Dilangalen, for distorting elections results to prove the opposition's allegations.
During last week's deliberations on the rules of canvass, Dilangalen singled out Cebu City as an area where cheating took place, and cited discrepancies in the election returns and COCs from Alcantara, Malabuyoc, Ronda, Santa Fe, Carmen and Liloan towns.
He alleged that there was vote padding in precinct 556-A of Barangay Lahug, Cebu City since the election returns showed that President Arroyo only got 51 votes, but according to the statement of votes, she got 146 votes.
Calling Dilangalen's allegations as malicious and baseless, local election officials pointed out that the lawmaker was talking about two different precincts, which explains the different results.
Cebuano congressmen and other local officials said they are prepared to defend the authenticity and reliability of election documents from their areas. CYR/KMF
(May 31, 2004 issue)
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