Noynoy, Binay proclaimed by Congress
By Gerry Baldo and Charlie V. Manalo 06/10/2010 Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and Makati Mayor Jejomar “Jojo” Binay yesterday were proclaimed by the joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives as President-elect and vice president-elect, respectively, amid loud chants of “Noy-Bi, Noy-Bi, Noy-Bi,” by a noisy gallery, composed mostly of the yellow-clad supporters of both Aquino and Binay. But there were doubts expressed over the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its partner, Smartmatic’s conduct of the May 10 elections, voiced by the Senate Minority Leader and the House Majority Leader, with both calling for corrections for future elections. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Speaker Prospero Nograles called the joint session to order at around 2:30 p.m. and suspended it a few minutes after to allow House and Senate officials to escort the two winners. They were proclaimed at 3:40 p.m. Among the early newcomers in the VIP section were Aquino’s sisters, Kris Aquino-Yap, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Balsy Aquino-Cruz, Viel Aquino-Dee, and the President-elect’s girlfriend, Valenzuela Councilor Shalani Soledad. Television personalities Dingdong Dantes, Ogie Alcasid, Jim Paredes and Boy Abunda were also in the gallery. Among the politicians who showed up were Manila City Mayor Alfredo Lim and former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad. Vice president-elect Jejomar Binay was proclaimed ahead of Aquino. Earlier, lawmakers were allowed to speak about the proclamation and were asked whether they approve of the committee resolution. Not one objected to the committee report and not one objected to the motion to proclaim them as president and vice president. There was a quorum which included Camarines Norte Rep. Dato Arroyo. Among those who spoke were Sen. Jose Jinggoy Estrada, (who read the statement of former President Estrada) and Senators Aquilino Pimentel, Miguel Zubiri, and representatives Neptali Gonzales II and Majority Floor Leader Art Defensor. Sen. Francisco Tatad was present at the gallery and distributed a statement. Pimentel in explaining his affirmative vote for the proclamation dared Aquino to focus the resources of the national government on two things: speeding up the national development with the indispensable assistance of the local government units and dissipating the causes of the Moro unrest in Mindanao and other armed groups in the country through the adoption of the federal system. Pimentel also dared Aquino to implement without fear or favor other laws such as those against corruption, forced disappearances, extra-judiciual killings, warlords and private armies. Pimentel, however, expressed his regrets that the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines used in the elections were not relieable and “were tainted with anomalies.” He, however, said that the irregularities would not suffice for the nullification of the entire electoral process. “For one, our voters were denied the right to know how and if the votes they had cast for their chosen candidates were duly recorded by the so called Precinct Count Optical Scan machines,” he said in a jam-packed session hall. Pimentel also pointed out that several certificates of canvass electronically sent to the national canvassing center contained errors. He also noted the incorrect dates that were printed on the election returns. While yesterday’s affair was a mere formality, as both candidates have topped the canvassing conducted in a joint session of Congress sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBoC), the proclamation came with a shadow of doubt on the credibility of the election results. In its probe, the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms uncovered instances far too numerous to be ignored, of pre-shaded ballots, discrepancies in dates, time and results in election returns (ERs), re-scanned ballots and unconfirmed reports of pre-programmed compact flash (CF) cards. But while the allegations of fraud are far too reaching to be simply relegated to the dustbin, the cheating according to the allegations have happened, is described to be so systematic, prompting former Sen. Francisco “Kit” Tatad to remark, “This is the first time in Philippine election history that there are allegations of cheating but which you cannot prove and disprove at the same time.” Even the solons from both chambers of Congress could not help but cite in passing the reports of election cheating as they delivered their sponsorship speeches for the resolution intended to proclaim Aquino and Binay. In his first press briefing after being proclaimed, Aquino said that during his first 100 days in office, he said his priority is to convene his Cabinet and identify or inventory the country’ problems. Source: The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100610hed1.html |
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