Comelec as National Board of Canvassers gets COCs from various areas

IT personnel checks the computer monitor at the voter care section of the Commission on Elections headquarters at the PICC on Tuesday, May 3, 2016.  INQUIRER PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA — The Commission on Elections en banc, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), opened and accepted on Tuesday, 40 certificates of canvass of voting (COCs) from various cities.

As of 8 p.m. the NBOC accepted COCs from the cities of San Juan, Baguio, Malabon, Lapu-lapu City in Cebu province, Cebu City, Taguig, Pateros, Bacolod, Sorsogon, Navotas, Manila; the provinces of Tarlac, Zambales, Batangas, Biliran, Batanes, North Cotabato, Siquijor, and Laguna; foreign posts in Yangon, Myanmar; Prague, Czech Republic; The Vatican; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Spain; Singapore; South Korea; Bahrain; Lebanon; and Qatar.

Also canvassed were results from Laguna, Guimaras, Pasig, Rizal, Mandaluyong, Oriental Mindoro, Albay, Muntinlupa, Malaysia, and Italy.

The NBOC, which will count the votes and declare winners of the senatorial race and the congressional party-lists, has decided to speed up its work by showing on board electronic image of the COCs on a large screen instead of reading out the vote count for each candidate from each city or province.

The electronic image of the COCs displayed on the screen are then reviewed by different political parties and poll watchdogs.

Each certificate, received electronically, is printed and shown to lawyers and watchers of candidates and political parties. If there are no objections, the certificate is deemed admitted.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez has told reporters that the NBOC will continue receiving and admitting the certificates as long as there are certificates to canvass.

He added that the NBOC would come out with a tabulation by 8 a.m. Wednesday (May 11).

Meanwhile, the official results for president and vice president will be canvassed by a joint session of the Senate and the Houses of Representatives at the Congress building in Quezon City.  SFM