But President Arroyo’s election lawyer Romulo Makalintal turned the tables on the KNP, saying its plan is a tacit admission that Poe lost in the May 10 elections.
In a press conference at the House of Representatives, Makalintal challenged KNP lawyers to reveal their official copies of the COCs to prove that Poe has indeed won.
He said the administration’s copies of the COCs show otherwise, with Mrs. Arroyo winning over the KNP standard-bearer by 1,118,818 votes and her running mate Sen. Noli de Castro edging out opposition vice presidential bet Sen. Loren Legarda by 904,005 votes.
The attempt by Poe’s lawyers to trim down the President’s votes "is a clear admission" that the 176 COCs being questioned would give Mrs. Arroyo a winning margin of more than a million votes, Makalintal said.
If the opposition is so confident that Poe won, opposition senators and congressmen should not object to any COC, and instead ask for the immediate canvass of the 176 COCs now in the custody of Congress, the President’s lawyer said.
"If FPJ (Poe’s initials) won the election, why would his lawyers seek the exclusion of certain COCs? Why would they ask that a substantial number of votes of GMA (Arroyo’s initials) from this or that province, city or district be deducted from the number of votes reflected on the COCs? Why don’t they just ask or move that the 176 COCs now in the possession of Congress be immediately opened and canvassed?" Makalintal asked.
He said Poe’s camp is aware of their defeat and are only resorting to delaying tactics.
The election lawyer cited a Supreme Court ruling upholding a Commission on Elections finding that "more often than not, representatives of losing candidates have the tendency to ask for the exclusion of certain election returns unfavorable to them."
"This is an admitted reality in this jurisdiction," Makalintal said.
He warned that the opposition’s move to question the 25 COCs is tantamount to the disenfranchisement of an estimated three million votes.
The election lawyer said there are seven copies of the COC, including those for the administration and opposition parties. He explained that the administration’s computation of votes - excluding the COC from Cotabato City - is exact because it is based on the official copy.
The opposition accuses the President of cheating her way to victory in the hotly contested presidential race.
The opposition claims Poe’s lead over Mrs. Arroyo could have been anywhere from three million to five million votes had cheating by the administration not occurred.
In his full-page newspaper advertisement published Monday, Poe said he was "greatly disturbed by reports of massive fraud" during the conduct of the national elections.
He also expressed "concern" over the composition of the 22-man joint committee as largely tilted in favor of the President.
Malacañang denies cheating and pressuring Mrs. Arroyo’s allies in Congress to railroad the proclamation of the winners.
Administration lawmakers renewed their challenge yesterday for the opposition to present hard evidence and file an electoral protest before Congress.
Representatives Alan Peter Cayetano and Joseph Durano said Congress — with the Senate and House convened in joint session — serves as the proper forum for poll fraud complaints.
The lawmnakers assailed the KNP’s bragging that they have an "army of lawyers and paralegal minds" and a "safehouse" for election documents reflecting the opposition’s cheating claims.
The documents, including affidavits and election returns, will formally be presented to Congress at the "proper time," the opposition vowed.
But Makalintal countered that Congress is not the venue to hear electoral protests on the presidency, but the Presidential Electoral Tribunal chaired by the Supreme Court Chief Justice.
Also, according to the election lawyer, the opposition’s plan to question or set aside some 25 COCs before the actual tabulation of votes is procedurally wrong.
The process, he explained, requires that the COCs be opened first before objections can be raised against it.
"The only remedy is to open all of the COCs first and they (opposition senators and congressmen) can make their objections but obviously, they are doing everything they can to delay the canvassing," Makalintal said, vowing to strongly oppose the move since it is illegal.
He said the opposition is at a loss on what to do which is why they want all election returns from the supposedly questionable COCs to be opened.
The planned opposition move, Makalintal said, appears to be two-pronged: To delay the canvassing and go on a fishing expedition for poll fraud and cheating.
The election lawyer said there are some 54,000 election returns from the 25 COCs that would be questioned by the opposition. If each would be scrutinized 10 minutes each, it would take three years to finish all of them.
Only when there are erasures or signs of tampering can Congress turn to supporting documents such as election returns, Makalintal said.
He showed journalists that none of the COCs of the administration have erasures or any sign of tampering.
Gonzalez, who chairs the House contingent to the 22-man joint canvassing committee, vowed to undertake such measures if a walkout affecting the quorum takes place while he is presiding officer during a joint session.
He said he will also order the House sergeant-at-arms to lock the doors of the session hall if necessary.
"I will not hesistate to arrest them," said Gonzalez, who often presides during sessions.
He said the Congress leadership cannot allow opposition members "to block or throw a monkey wrench" into the completion of their constitutional duty.
He noted how the opposition senators and congressmen have been sourgraping for the past several weeks, refusing to accept Poe’s defeat against Mrs. Arroyo.
National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao earlier said police and military intelligence have uncovered a "plot" by KNP lawmakers to stage a walkout during the canvassing.
The objective, Goltiao said, was for Poe’s camp to "create a constitutional crisis that would eventually lead to an agitation for an EDSA-type mass action," referring to the "People Power" revolt.
Two other congressmen allied with the President sent a mild message to the opposition, saying it should just put their "trust in the constitutionally-mandated process instead of threatening to walk out."
Lakas-CMD Representatives Mauricio Domogan and Del de Guzman made this appeal to the KNP, as they expressed confidence that the legislature would finish the canvassing on time.
The Constitution mandates that the next president and vice president take office on June 30.
The two solons called on the opposition to respect the choices made by Drilon and De Venecia in the composition of the canvassing committee since this was their prerogative as provided under the rules.
"Let us stop questioning the committee’s composition since the rules about the membership selection were extensively debated on the floor last week. Let us move on to complete the canvass," Domogan said.
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said they believe the KNP’s plan to take to the Supreme Court their concerns over the formation of the joint canvassing committee will not prosper.
De Venecia expressed confidence that the Supreme Court "will observe the separation of powers."
"This is purely a political question," he pointed out.
Meanwhile, with the canvassing going at a snail’s pace, allies of the President in Congress proposed yesterday that the tallying of votes be done simultaneously with the opening of ballot boxes containing the COCs.
This way, the canvassing process would speed up, Senate President Franklin Drilon said.
Drilon reasoned there is nothing in the law and the canvassing rules that prohibit lawmakers from examining the ballot boxes and at the same time, tabulating the votes contained in the COCs in the boxes already opened.
Drilon, who heads the pro-administration Liberal Party, suggested that the actual count start after 100 boxes have been opened.
The same proposal was aired at the start of yesterday’s session by Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina, who belongs to the President’s Lakas-CMD party and who sits in the Lakas-dominated House contingent of the bicameral canvassing committee.
The opposition opposed the suggestion.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the Constitution requires that all 176 ballot boxes containing the COCs be opened by Drilon in a public session before they are canvassed.
Pimentel is one of five opposition senators sitting in the Senate team in the canvassing committee.
Even with the slow pace of canvassing, De Venecia projected yesterday that the tabulation will be over sometime between June 15 and 20, at the latest.
"I’m only guessing. But that’s my informed judgment," De Venecia told reporters. "You and I know who won as president. This is not regarding numbers." - with Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla