Sen. Zubiri: Congress’ canvassing of votes is constitutional and must proceed
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
MANILA, Philippines — Amid petitions to suspend the canvassing of votes for the president and vice president, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri has weighed in, to uphold the constitutional duty of Congress to proceed with the canvassing.
“Congress is constitutionally bound to canvass the results for the President and Vice President. Nothing can prevent us from performing this duty to ensure the peaceful transfer of power. That is our democracy at work, and that is our sworn duty to the Filipino people,” Zubiri said.
“We only need a few days to complete this task, and we commit that before June 30, we shall have our new president and vice president—the ones elected by the sovereign will of 31 million Filipino people.”
“The suspension of canvassing of votes for the president and vice president would only promote instability, leaving us without leaders at a crucial time and trigger a constitutional crisis. We are still laboring under the challenges of a global pandemic, so it is imperative that we have a stable leadership in place, to help us out of this crisis. Therefore, we the members of Congress will not allow this to happen.”
