EDITORIAL - Start canvassing now

Critics, including big business groups, said yesterday that they were happy to be wrong about poll automation. The Commission on Elections, in a dramatic shift after many years of being on the receiving end of public scorn, is reaping accolades for pulling off the country’s first automated elections. An international credit rating agency said yesterday that the smooth vote and a clear victory for the next president could lead to a rating upgrade for the country, which will be a boon for business.

Philippine elections will never be the same again. Now all that’s needed is for one crucial institution in the electoral process to show that it is also ready for the modern age: Congress. Yesterday the Comelec urged the 14th Congress to convene ASAP as the National Canvassing Board for president and vice president. For the top two positions in the land, the Comelec would have announced the tabulated results from almost all polling precincts. But the Comelec stopped at 78 percent after it was reminded by lawyers mostly of losing candidates that it might be usurping the duty of Congress to proclaim the winners.

The 14th Congress, whose timetable is still on manual election mode, is scheduled to convene for the canvassing on May 31. Some members of the House of Representatives are proposing that the date be moved up to May 24. That’s two weeks away — still too long for a nation that has been treated for the first time to getting election results, as announced by Comelec Chairman Jose Melo himself, within hours of the end of voting.

The Constitution gives Congress “not later than thirty days after the day of the election” to start canvassing election returns. Within 30 days from May 10, any time the Comelec is ready with the election returns, canvassing can start. The Comelec is ready; it has started the official canvassing for the Senate and party-list.

The long wait for the official proclamation of winners was the biggest complaint against manual elections. The wait paved the way for cheating, increased tension and contributed to election violence. In previous elections, Congress had no choice but to follow the Comelec’s manual timetable. Now that the poll body is operating at 21st-century pace, Congress should show that it is also ready for change. Election returns are ready for canvassing. A long wait for the congressional canvassing defeats the purpose of poll automation.