Losers always delay canvass.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Belinda Olivares-Cunanan

EVERY DAY the opposition throws a new demand that it knows is not possible, given the laws on canvassing by Congress and the existing reality there. From its moves, it's now evident that the opposition's objective is to delay the canvass as much as possible, in order to derail the proclamation of the winner. And from the way they have been acting, and perhaps based on their own real tabulations, it seems they believe President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won. Otherwise, as Sen. Manuel Villar put it, why would they delay the canvass?

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The four days of joint session last week saw attempt after attempt to amend the rules of canvass (sponsored in the House by Samar Rep. Eduardo Nachura; he did not sponsor the concurrent resolution convening Congress, as this column erroneously stated yesterday), but their adoption would have resulted inevitably in delaying the proclamation of the winner for many months. The opposition reserved its most vociferous objection against the creation of the joint committee that had done the canvassings since 1961, but the majority coalition voted that down and instead agreed to a few opposition-sponsored amendments.

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Last weekend, the Coalition of Hope, a group allied with the opposition, published a full-page ad calling for a three-tiered process that would go back to the election returns at precinct level, the municipal statement of votes and the COCs. That call, however, clearly violates the constitutional mandate that Congress undertake the canvassing of votes for the two top officials. As every lawyer knows, complaints at the precinct and municipal level ought to be lodged before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, composed of all the justices of the Supreme Court-after the proclamation of the winners. The law allows questioned COCs to be verified against "authentic copies" such as those in the hands of the Comelec and the two major political groups or provincial and municipal board of canvass officials. Only in the extreme would Congress allow a return to the precinct results and the SOVs.