No more 'noted' at canvass

MANILA, Philippines - As the Senate prepares to choose its representatives in the congressional canvassing team, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has laid down the first rule in the task: avoid mention of the word “noted.”

Zubiri said objections or points raised during the canvassing should not be dismissed simply with “noted” by the chairs of the congressional canvass.

“What’s good here is that we’re not going to use the word ‘noted’ anymore. We will discuss what we should do once evidence are brought out to say there was cheating,” Zubiri said.

In the 2004 presidential canvass, then Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan and House Majority Leader Raul Gonzalez earned the moniker “Mr. Noted” when, as chairs of the congressional canvass committee, they simply ruled “noted” every time an objection was raised.

Pangilinan and Gonzalez said the proper venue for the protests was the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

Zubiri said they would have an all-senator caucus at 1 p.m. today so they could choose the members of the nine-man canvassing committee for Congress acting as National Board of Canvassers.

Zubiri explained the panel would comprise only those who did not run in the last elections.

He said the non-controversial issues would be tackled first.

Zubiri suggested that unsubstantiated allegations should not be entertained and that the Commission on Elections and the Smartmatic-Total Information Management consortium must be present during the canvassing in case there are queries regarding the precinct count optical scan machines.

“There should be strong and credible evidence” and not just testimony like that of ‘Koala Boy.’”

He said there should also be videos, photographs and testimonial evidence from witnesses, the Board of Election Inspectors and the Comelec personnel “or Senate President (Juan Ponce) Enrile and House Speaker (Prospero) Nograles won’t allow them to delay the proceedings,” Zubiri said over radio station dzBB.

Zubiri said he was confident cheating allegations such as that of “Koala Boy” and “Hello Garci 2” would not delay the proclamation of winners.

Zubiri said they would try to finish the canvassing by June 2 so that the winners could be proclaimed and start preparing for their priority programs and in the case of the new president, his Cabinet.

He added that other protests could indeed be elevated to the PET and that losing local candidates should not be allowed to take advantage of the national canvassing to air their grievances.

Zubiri said Congress decided to report a week earlier so that the speedy canvassing brought about by automation of the polls would not be wasted.

He said many people would be watching and it would be a shame if legislators would appear to be the ones delaying the process.

“We will deal with our priorities first and maybe after that they can talk,” Zubiri said.

“They cannot show that they do not want the canvass to start right away, the people will be enraged. They are very eager to know who really won especially in the vice presidential race,” Zubiri said.

He is confident of a quorum even if many would inhibit for being candidates or for reasons of propriety.

He said he has conducted a phone brigade so there would be enough numbers to open the session today and tomorrow, the start of canvassing at the House.

“They can show up for quorum and then go,” Zubiri said.

For his part, Sen. Edgardo Angara said it was important to finish the canvassing early for the sake of stability.

But he said the congratulatory messages by foreign governments for Aquino as president were premature since he was not proclaimed yet.

Angara said there was probably no intention on the part of the foreign dignitaries to send a signal to Congress that it should not fool around because it would be tantamount to interference in the country’s internal affairs.

‘Mr. Noted’ needed

But for President Arroyo’s former election lawyer, Congress needs a lawmaker who has the guts to dismiss or refer to the Supreme Court any objections that would be raised during the canvassing of votes for president and vice president.

“Without ‘Mr. Noted,’ the canvassing of votes for president and vice-president and their proclamation may be derailed and delayed in view of some objections that may be raised by losing candidates against the certificates of canvass that will be canvassed by Congress in a joint session,” Romulo Macalintal said.

Macalintal made the observation as Speaker Nograles and other congressional leaders raised the possibility of a delay in the proclamation of president and vice president due to the ongoing probe on alleged fraud in the country’s first automated polls.

At that time, Macalintal’s client was Mrs. Arroyo, who was proclaimed winner with a lead of more than a million votes over the late actor Fernando Poe Jr.

While Congress is empowered by the Constitution to canvass the votes for president and vice-president upon determining the “authenticity and due execution” of the COC, it cannot go beyond the document.

Macalintal said unless a COC shows signs of tampering or spuriousness, “no other evidence can be considered to assail the COC’s authenticity and due execution.”

“And this is where ‘Mr. Noted’ is needed or becomes necessary. He may just say ‘noted’ when confronted with motions or manifestations objecting to the inclusion in the canvass of a COC when the grounds are not extant or apparent on the face of the COC,” Macalintal said.

Using other documents to determine the authenticity of the COCs would prolong the canvass and delay the proclamation of the winners, he said.

He pointed out that an aggrieved party should seek redress from the SC “where a more extensive examination of such documents could be properly ventilated.”

“But while Congress is limited to the examination of the authenticity and due execution of the COCs, the same ‘cannot be done in a robotic manner’ as stated by Chief Justice Reynato Puno in a separate opinion in a case involving the 2004 canvass proceedings,” Macalintal said.

“The rules (of congressional canvass) look upon our lawmakers not as unthinking slot machines when conducting the canvass. For this reason, the law and the rules require that due consideration be given not only to the COCs but also to the election returns and the statement of votes. In other words, the search for truth about the true will of the electorate should not be confined to the four corners of the COCs (for) the positions of President and Vice-President deserve more than a mechanical effort,” he said quoting Puno, who retired last week.

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar renewed the Palace’s call for a speedy canvass and proclamation.

“We’re not that confident that proclamation and canvassing push through as scheduled so we continue to appeal that they push through as scheduled,” Olivar told the government-run dzRB.

But he said the Palace remains optimistic that the turnover of government would push through smoothly and as scheduled on June 30. – Aurea Calica, Paolo Romero