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Tuesday, June 01, 2004
First 24 ballot boxes opened
MANILA -- Congress suspended session at 7:40 p.m. Monday with only 24 of the 176 ballot boxes opened while the actual canvassing of votes for president and vice president could only start Wednesday.
The session was supposed to resume at 10 a.m. Monday but due to lack of quorum, session was able to start two hours after. Adding to the delay was the long description of the condition of the ballot boxes containing the certificates of canvass.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel and Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras blamed members of the majority bloc for being late.
Senate President Franklin Drilon defended his colleagues in the administration, saying some of them were late because they still had to travel to the capital all the way from their provinces.
The actual opening of the ballot boxes started 5:10 p.m. after the discussion on the composition of the 22-member joint committee.
The opposition has questioned the composition of the joint committee saying that majority of the members are allied with President Arroyo.
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 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.
Ballot boxes
Among the first six ballot boxes that were opened came from Cambodia, Laos, Palau, Brunei, Netherlands and Sweden. Just for the opening and examining of these ballot boxes already took the committee 50 minutes.
The legislators later agreed to waive the physical examination of the ballot boxes purposely to speed up the proceedings.
Drilon said the slow process is expected, as this is what is stated in the rules.
At the rate the opening of ballot boxes is taking, Drilon said actual canvassing would begin on Wednesday.
Committee composition
Arroyo-allied legislators dominated the 22-member committee when it was announced Monday by Drilon and House Speaker Jose de Venecia.
The Senate group is composed of Senate President Pro Tempore Juan Flavier, Senators Francis Pangilinan, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Joker Arroyo, Ralph Recto and Manuel Villar for the majority panel. Senators Robert Jaworski and Ramon Revilla Jr. were appointed as alternates.
Pimentel, Edgardo Angara, Vicente Sotto III, Sergio Osmeña III and Teresa Aquino-Oreta composed the minority group. Senator Luisa Ejercito-Estrada was appointed alternate together with Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen.
Dilangalen questioned his inclusion in the alternate list and asked that he be removed from the senate's alternate list.
The House panel on the other hand is composed of Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzales, Representatives Florencio Abad, Constantino Jaraula, Antonio Eduardo Nachura, Prospero Nograles, Salacnib Baterina, Arthur Defensor, Antonio Cuenco, and Marcelino Libanan.
The minority bloc is composed of Reps. Agapito Aquino representing Senator Panfilo Lacson, Francis Escudero representing Fernando Poe Jr., and Maria Blanca Kim Bernardo-Lokin representing Eduardo "Eddie" Villanueva.
Meanwhile, presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson 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 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.
The long debate over the rules of canvass worried some sectors that no winner in the presidential race will be announced by June 30, when the terms of the elective officials ends.
In Malacañang, 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. JPM/JMR
(June 1, 2004 issue)
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