Comelec starts canvass today

The national canvassing of votes officially starts at 10 a.m. today at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking forward to an early proclamation of winners for national candidates and said that it is hoping to finish canvassing the votes in two weeks.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has given the assurance that the winning president and vice president will be proclaimed in early June.

PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said that security preparations were mapped out to ensure that no groups will disrupt the formal canvassing of votes.

He dismissed reports that certain political camps have the capability of launching massive rallies to protest allegations of massive poll fraud.

"I think the public is now more educated, and that they will think first before joining any rally," Goltiao said.

He revealed though that the PNP Intelligence Group has been directed to intensify collecting information related to moves that may destabilize the government.

Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra reiterated its order to its board of canvassers (BOC) yesterday to expedite the completion of their tally. Municipal and City BOCs transmit their certificates of canvass (COC) to the provincial board of canvassers, which in turn forward their tally to the Comelec for the national canvassing by the Senate, the results of which will be forwarded to Congress for the official proclamation of winners in the presidential and vice presidential race.

In past elections, national canvassing took weeks to complete but this year, the Comelec is bracing for a shorter canvassing period.

As of yesterday, only Aurora and Zambales have submitted their COCs, although 20 COCs from overseas and local absentee voters had been delivered to the Comelec.

"We are expecting more COCs from provinces. We have big number of COCs to canvass," Borra said.

If the need arises, Goltiao said the PNP will deploy civil disturbance units at the vicinity of the Senate to prevent protesters from disrupting the canvassing.

The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) will also provide the necessary security deployment in the area. The "no-permit, no-rally" rule will be implemented but PNP personnel were given instructions to practice maximum tolerance.

Asked to comment on reports that some active personnel were being recruited to join anti-government protest rallies, Goltiao said the PNP is confident that its personnel will not support any move to derail the proclamation of elected officials.

"There is no need to conduct a loyalty check. The members of the PNP are professional. Our people follow the chain of command and they toe the line," he said. — With Christina Mendez