MANILA, Philippines – Congress will convene in joint session on May 24 to canvass the votes for president, vice president and senators, Speaker Prospero Nograles said Friday.
Nograles said he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agreed that both chambers would convene as the National Board of Canvassers at 4 p.m.
Before that, he said the Senate and the House of Representatives will convene simultaneously but separately to draft and approve the rules on canvassing.
Once common rules are approved, members of both chambers will convene at the House.
The Speaker said he would talk to members of the House to ensure a quorum.
He said Congress can already start canvassing the votes since some of the certificates of canvass (CoCs) have already been tabulated by the Commission on Elections.
Congress was originally scheduled to convene on May 31.
Asked if there were enough CoCs to canvass, Nograles said the Comelec should be able to provide Congress with the results.
“It is our duty to canvass the votes and proclaim the next president, vice president and the senators. We are doing this one week early because results have been faster because of the automation. But we are expecting problems as, well like questions on the source of the results,” he said.
Inaccurate results from the vote-counting machines could result in a failure of automation, he said.
“The problem is how do we resolve this? That’s something that the Board of Canvassers should decide,” he added.
mindoropost.com 