There’s ample time to canvass the elections

The general impression of the public is that the canvassing and proclamation of the elections is unduly delayed. Actually the National Canvassing Board has till June 30 to make the proclamation and it is only June 5th. Also, there is no suspense as the election winners are already known. Undoubtedly, there are people who are trying to delay the canvassing of votes and the proclamation of the winners in the pre-sidential and vice presidential elections. But it will be an exercise in futility. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Noli de Castro will be proclaimed on or before June 30.

Under the present predicament, the candidates who have an important role to play are the ones who lost the elections. The winners cannot announce that they have already won the elections before their official proclaimation.

But the losers can do this and they will show that they know now to accept the people’s verdict. The first presidential candidate who did this was Raul Roco.

We wish that the others would follow his fine example. We are glad that both former president Joseph Estrada and presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr. have both cautioned their followers to strictly observe the law. They can question the results of the elections in court, but they should not resort to rallies and demonstrations. The canvassing of votes is not a matters that can be resolved in the streets. The other day, we saw in TV, shots of the police dispersing a crowd with water cannons. The demonstrators did not even have a permit to demonstrate.

The elections are over. The National Canvassing Board is having great difficulty opening and authenticating the certificates of canvass. A congressman has petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the 22-man joint committee from canvassing the votes. He believes it should be done by the entire Congress. That is a matter that should be left for the Supreme Court to decide.

The important thing is that the election is over and that it was generally peaceful and orderly. The few isolated instances of cheating should definitely be investigated and the guilty parties prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But they are local – not national – cases. They should be seen on a precinct level.

If you compare the recent elections in India with ours, you can only conclude that we have a long way to go. Sad to say, when it comes to elections, we are going backwards and we see no reason for it. The counting should be quicker because we spent a fortune to acquire modern counting machines. They were not even used. How can anyone justify their purchase? This is another matter that should be tho-roughly investigated.

We just hope that the joint committee of Congress finishes the canvassing of votes and the official proclamation long before its deadline of June 30. It is about time, our leaders tackled the real problems of our nation. We are now the second poorest country in Asia, next to Bangladesh. And, believe it or not, Bangladesh is now economically progressing much faster than we do. Elections are over. It’s time to work.