The Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, has pushed through with its canvassing of votes for president and vice-president Monday afternoon, and Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri vowed there would be no more delays this time. “Napagkasunduan sa loob na tuloy na ang bilangan, hindi na ide-delay, bubuksan na ang [Certificates of Canvass] mula sa ibang probinsya at wala nang makakapigil sa atin,” Zubiri told reporters in an interview after a caucus. (We agreed to push through with the canvassing. We will open the COCs from the provinces. Nothing can delay us anymore.) The NBOC on Monday afternoon started opening all the electronically transmitted certificates of canvass (COCs). When it started the canvassing last week, the NBOC opened the manually prepared COCs, mostly from the overseas absentee voting, since its authenticity and due execution were easier to prove. Zubiri said objections that would be raised would be subjected to the Section 19 of their rules, which states that objection to the inclusion of the COC, which must be submitted in writing together with supporting evidence, shall be raised at the time it is being considered. It further states that the Senate President and House Speaker may order the deferment of the canvass of the contested COC and the joint congressional canvassing committee shall resolve the objections by a majority vote, with each panel voting separately. In case of disagreement, the decision of the Senate President and House Speaker shall prevail. “Ang sabi natin unless na meron silang maipapakita na mabigat na ebidensya, hindi hearsay, hindi lang dahil may nagsabi sa kanila ng IT expert, hanggang walang maipakita dito sa plenaryo, sa canvassing committee, wala po tayong magagawa. Kung merong silang maipakitang equipment na pwedeng ma-manipulate ang resulta, with the absence of that tuloy ang bilangan,” Zubiri said.
