‘Fastest’ canvassing in PH poll history?

BIG WEEKEND EYED The Comelec, serving as the National Board of Canvassers, holds its second day of session on Wednesday at the Manila Hotel Tent. It hopes to proclaim the winners in the senatorial and party list races on Saturday or Sunday. —Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta | Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec), projecting an early finish in the canvassing of votes for senators and party lists, aims to have the winners proclaimed this weekend.

Comelec Chair George Garcia on Wednesday said that should the proclamation be done in the same week as the elections, it would be considered the fastest in the country’s history.

The poll body, acting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), has officially received 58 certificates of canvass (COCs) from provinces and overseas post on Tuesday. It canvassed 101 more on Wednesday, leaving about 16 remaining COCs on Thursday.

When the NBOC adjourned around 7 p.m., Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco told reporters via Viber that the board had received all COCs except four: those from Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Iligan City and the Bangsamoro Region’s Special Geographic Area.

READ: Comelec convenes as National Board of Canvassers for 2025 elections

Proclaim all winners

“We hope to finish canvassing the remaining COCs by tomorrow (Thursday night), so our intention to proclaim [the winners] on Saturday earlier or Sunday latest [will materialize],” said Garcia at a press conference in Manila on Wednesday.

He added that the winning senators will be proclaimed on a single day and party list groups the day after.

“[O]ur decision is to proclaim [all winners] because if you can do it in less than one week, then maybe it’s better to wait. And partial proclamations only happen when uncanvassed results will still affect the results of the elections,” the chair explained.

“We can canvass 10 COCs at a time but it is to the best interest of the nation that we are able to proclaim immediately our winning candidates because that is our obligation to the nation, so that doubts [over the results] will be dispelled,” he added.

Can’t show tally yet

The chair said the 58 COCs on Tuesday were the most number of certificates canvassed on the first day of national canvassing in the history of Philippine elections. Garcia said the NBOC usually does not have any COC to canvass on the first day when he was a practicing election lawyer.

Of the 175 COCs, 82 came from the provinces, 64 from overseas absentee voting, 26 from highly urbanized cities, two from the district board of canvassers, and one from the local absentee voting.

The Comelec chair explained that the body is forbidden by election law to publish the ongoing tally of the votes and ranking of the candidates. He said there will be a partial, official tally in the canvassing reports, the first of which hasn’t been released yet.

ERs accessible

The election returns (ERs) are, however, accessible through the Comelec website. The poll body also sends the ER data to the Comelec central server, media groups, poll watchdogs, such as the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting and National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections and the majority and minority parties.

Senatorial candidate Rodante Marcoleta, who is in sixth place, has filed a manifestation for an early proclamation for the top Senate slots, but Garcia said the NBOC decided to “proceed accordingly.”

Enough time for families

Garcia said a weekend proclamation would also give the Comelec and family members of the winners adequate time to prepare.

He added that the separate proclamation for party-list groups is also to give the Comelec time to identify those who have secured a place among the 63 seats allotted in the House of Representatives.

According to Garcia, past proclamations usually had to wait for a month back when the country was still holding manual elections, and more than two weeks when the polls became automated starting in 2010.

“We are not [aiming] to be the fastest in history, but because we really want the nation to move on. Our election has been too divisive. The election is supposed to unite us, and the Comelec should be one in this aspiration to unite the nation, at least after this election,” he said. /cb