EDITORIAL - Unresolved dispute

The canvassing of votes for president and vice president continues to crawl while the Commission on Elections is swamped with about 700 complaints in connection with the May 10 polls. The slowness of the congressional canvass may be understandable, although the international community must have given up trying to understand this mess weeks ago. But why can’t poll officials settle quickly the dispute over who won the 12th slot in the Senate race?

The Comelec had proclaimed Sen. Rodolfo Biazon as the 12th winner. Biazon edged out Senate colleague and partymate Robert Barbers by about 10,000 votes. Barbers later pointed out that some 20,000 votes remained to be counted, which could still make him a winner, and asked the Comelec to nullify Biazon’s proclamation. The other day, a third candidate entered the fray: Sen. John Osmeña, a partymate of the two administration bets. Osmeña said he was cheated of enough votes that could make him the 12th winner. He asked the Senate Electoral Tribunal to nullify Biazon’s proclamation.

Osmeña’s case may take longer to settle, since his protest will involve a vote recount in several areas where he claims to have been cheated, including his bailiwick, Cebu City. But how long does it take to tally the still uncounted votes in the dispute between Barbers and Biazon?

At the rate this case is going, other losing senatorial candidates may soon add to the confusion, filing fraud complaints and claiming that 12th slot. The slow pace of resolving this case is unfair to whoever is the real winner and the people who voted for him. This is not even a battle between the administration and opposition. Surely the 12th winner in the Senate race is so much easier to determine conclusively than the winners for president and vice pre-sident. The failure to act quickly on the dispute in the Senate race is another reminder of how badly poll officials have performed in the elections.