Nat'l canvass finished today, says Comelec

The National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) intends to complete the canvassing of all 175 certificates of canvass (COCs) from different parts of the country and overseas today and potentially set the "earliest" proclamation of winning senators.

- By MAYEN JAYMALIN

According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia, the NBOC has received almost all the 175 COCs and thus can already complete the canvassing, possibly this evening.

Garcia said the NBOC made history when it canvassed 58 COCs just on the first day of canvassing on Tuesday, and 101 yesterday. Only 16 COCs have yet to be canvassed.

"Hopefully we can finish all the remaining ones until tomorrow night, and our intention is to have the proclamation by Saturday at the earliest and Sunday at the latest for the entire senatorial lineup," Garcia said at a press conference yesterday.

The final data from NBOC, Garcia noted, would serve as the basis for the proclamation of the 12 winning senators and not the unofficial tally from private entities.

While the canvassing may be completed today, Garcia said the NBOC plans to hold the proclamation either Saturday or Sunday because the board must prepare the venue and send a formal invitation to the winning senators.

Garcia pointed out that if the proclamation were held on Sunday, it would already be the earliest in election history.

He said the Comelec is not aiming to achieve a record for the earliest proclamation, but instead hopes to allow the nation to move on quickly from the divisive election.

A day after the proclamation of the winning senators, the Comelec may also proclaim the winning party-list groups due to venue considerations, Garcia said.

Additionally, the NBOC needs to compute and comply with the formula prescribed by the Supreme Court on how to arrive at the guaranteed seat as well as additional seats for the winning party-list groups.

The NBOC needs to canvass all the votes for the party-list group before it can undertake the computation as mandated by the law.