Romualdez thanks colleagues, candidates for speedy, transparent canvass

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines — House Majority leader and Leyte 1st District  Rep. Martin Romualdez thanked his colleages for the speedy and transparent canvass of votes for president and vice president.

The tandem of  former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Davao Coty Mayor Sara Duterte won a landslide victory with a strong majority vote of the electorate in recent history.

Congress proclaimed Marcos Jr. as president-elect and Duterte as vice-president-elect after two days of counting, the fastest in Philippine electoral history.

The official canvass showed Marcos with 31,629,783 votes, while his closest opponent, Vice President Leni Robredo, had 15,035,773.

In the vice presidential race, Duterte was credited with 32,208,417 votes against Sen. Francis Pangilinan’s 9,329,207.

The joint canvanssing committee took just two days to finish tabulating 171 out of 173 certificates of canvass (COCs) from 81 provinces and independent cities, and those containing absentee local and overseas Filipinos’ votes.

The joint session of Congress presided by Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Speaker Lord Allan Velasco approved the report of the joint canvassing committee.

Later, they adopted the separate motions of Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and House Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez to proclaim Marcos and Duterte as the winning president and vice president.

Romualdez thanked his colleagues in Congress, including senators, and candidates for a smooth, speedy and transparent

He expressed his gratitude to all those who participated in the tabulation after the joint House-Senate canvassing committee, which he co-chaired with Zubiri, reported to the two chambers the results of the official count.

At the same time, Romualdez congratulated Marcos and Duterte, who have won the May 9 vote by a landslide.

“Their overwhelming mandate reflects the people’s desire for unity toward progress and development,” said Romualdez, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) president.

At the same time, Romualdez expressed his gratitude to Robredo and the other presidential and vice presidential candidates and their lawyers for their invaluable cooperation in the tabulation, which was carried live on social media platforms.

“Their manifestations to no longer challenge the COCs and to recognize the integrity and authenticity of the election results smoothened and expedited our canvass, and allowed the canvassing committee to carry out its mandate from the joint session in so short a time,” he said.

They also “reflected a desire on the part of the candidates to put the divisiveness and animosity of the elections behind us, to move on and to give the national healing and unification process a chance,” he said.

/MUF