The senators-elect, as proclaimed by the Commission on Elections or COMELEC, is invalid according to a lawyer and constitutionalist.
In an interview with Bombo Radyo, Atty Edgar Avila, a constitutionalist and former Dean of the SLU College of Law, said proclaiming winners when the vote count is incomplete is a violation to a 1968 Supreme Court ruling. "It is invalid and unconstitutional," he noted. The rule stated incomplete vote count "is illegal and cant be a basis of subsequent proclamation." Avila added that vote count must be complete 100 percent before a proclamation can be done since the number of votes the candidate garnered will appear on the certificate of proclamation. The certificates given the the proclaimed winners don’t have the number of votes obtained.
The COMELEC, who now serve as the National Board of Canvassers or NBOC, has only tallied 113, not even half of the 304 certificates of canvass when the office made the proclamation.
Though the top six, who were already proclaimed and eventually followed by another three, may not change, Avila explained the election result may change especially to those candidates who have narrow gaps as the tally continues. He also added the office is just pressured since they were unable to complete the tally in two days as they promised before the election commenced.
COMELEC chief Sixto Brillantes may not face charges in court but Avila noted it is a valid ground for impeachment as it violates the law, the constitution and the public servants’ code of ethics.
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