The two chambers of Congress, which sits as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), suspended on Tuesday night the canvassing of votes for president and vice-president in the provinces of Pampanga and Sultan Kudarat due to missing certificates of canvass (COCs).
According to Negros Occidental 4th District Representative Juliet Marie de Leon, a member of the House contingent in the NBOC, the COCs from Pampanga were not found in the ballot boxes that were transmitted to the Senate.
"The COCs of Pampanga for president and vice president [are] missing," De Leon reported.
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, co-chairperson of the NBOC, directed the secretariat to contact the election officers from the said province to locate the COCs from Pampanga.
“May we direct our secretariat to contact the election officer in charge the prov elec superviosor of Pampanga so that we can determine the whereabouts and the condition of the COCs of Pampanga?” he said.
"With the indulgence of both panels, both the Senate and the House, we shall defer the consideration and the canvass of the province of Pampanga and instead and until we have contacted the provincial election supervisor or the respective election officer, we shall continue with the canvass and open the ballot box from Batangas," he added.
Shortly after, Ako-Bicol party-list Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. said that the COCs from Sultan Kudarat were also missing.
“The COCs, which were supposed to be physically delivered here in Congress for Sultan Kudarat is not here,” he said during the proceedings.
This makes it the third province with deferred vote canvassing after COCs from Surigao del Sur that were supposedly inside the ballot boxes transmitted to the Senate were missing. Congress said what it has is just the electronically transferred COCs.
Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri expressed his frustration over the delay.
"With the indulgence of my colleagues, as mentioned earlier by Senator Nancy Binay and our dear colleagues on that side, they only have one job and one job to do, the [Provincial Election Supervisors], which is to insert the COCs of the province, of the results of the president and vice president into the ballot box and deliver it to the Senate," Zubiri said.
"One job and one job only. How can they be remiss in that job that is constitutionally mandated for them to do? And therefore we admonish the Comelec for this non-action or non-appearance of these COCs," he added.
Zubiri earlier said Congress is eyeing to proclaim the new president and vice president by Wednesday, May 25.
