Congress begins canvassing votes for president, VP

The joint committee starts canvassing CoC for Davao Del Sur | CNN PH

Metro Manila — The Philippine Congress began canvassing votes for president and vice president on Wednesday (May 25) at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City.

The official count, to be conducted by the joint canvassing committee composed of selected members of the Senate and House of Representatives, started Wednesday afternoon. The joint committee will conduct daily tallies of the votes until the winners of the elections are determined.

Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel Jr. leads the Senate panel in the committee, while the House panel is chaired by Rep. Neptali “Boyet” Gonzales.

Gonzales said a law allows the National Board of Canvassers for the presidential and vice presidential elections to only determine the authenticity of the certificates of canvass and record protests against certain COCs. Its responsibilities do not include resolving allegations of cheating, which shall be noted and referred to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, he said.

The certificates of canvass and election returns, which will be the basis of the official count, arrived in Congress under heavy guard early Tuesday. They are under 24-hour watch by congressional security personnel.

Once the official canvass is completed, Congress will proclaim the country’s new president and vice president.