Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Tuesday, May 10 said Congress might be able to proclaim the official winners in the May 9, 2022 presidential and vice presidential race on May 27.
"It's possible kung mag start kami ng (It is possible we start on May) 24, 25, 26, the third day is 26 or 27t...It looks promising that we will be able to proclaim by the 27th. On the 28th the latest no?’’ Sotto said in a press conference.
The Senate chief issued the statement after he and House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco led the initialization of the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) for the electronic reception by Congress of certificates of canvass (CoCs) for the 2022 presidential and vice presidential elections.
“Today, as we perform the initialization of the CCS machine that will be used to receive the CoCs from the Provincial, City and District Board of Canvassers, I call on everyone to exercise prudence and diligence, so that we may ensure the integrity of our electoral process,” Velasco pointed out.
Velasco had rallied his fellow lawmakers to exercise prudence and diligence as Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), gears up for the canvassing of votes cast and proclamation of the country’s next president and vice president.
Sotto and Velasco confirmed that both chambers are now ready to canvass the votes for the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Senate and House of Representatives are mandated to canvass the votes for the presidential and vice-presidential race and proclaim the winning candidates.
Also present during the initialization of the CSS machine were Senate Secretary Myra Villarica, House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza, representatives from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), House members, and other officials from both houses of Congress.
Sotto said the plan is to start the canvassing in the morning of the 24th, a day after both the Senate and the House have resumed regular session on May 23.
On the 23rd, Sotto said the Senate will do business and name the seven representatives from the Senate to the NBOC.
"And then, there are other important businesses for third reading... baka ihahabol namin (We may be able to rush it for approval) on that day, the whole day. That's at 10 am. And then and usapan namin ni Speaker, Tuesday ng umaga (my agreement with Speaker Velasco that we {start the canvassing} on Tuesday {May 24),"he added.