Duterte, Robredo to be proclaimed Monday: Gonzales
ABS-CBN News
MANILA - The proclamation of Rodrigo Duterte and Leni Robredo as the country's next president and vice-president is set on Monday at 2 p.m., according to House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II.
Gonzales co-chairs the Joint Canvassing Committee of the two chambers of Congress with Senator Koko Pimentel.
Gonzales announced the proclamation date in a text message to ABS-CBN News Friday night.
Pimentel confirmed this in a separate statement.
He said he was elated that the canvassing for the two highest positions in the land was finished in three days.
"I'm very glad to say that we finished the national canvassing for president and vice president in three days," Pimentel said. "I've been told this has been the fastest."
"The projected proclamation would be afternoon of Monday because it's good that we ended on Friday, so the staff can have the weekend to finish the report," he added.
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Pimentel said that the number of certificates of canvass (COCs) increased to 167 from 165 because China and Taiwan were initially counted as one COC.
"I made an impromptu decision to treat the China and Taiwan COCs as one entry. So, really, we really should have one extra. China mainland and Taiwan were counted as two COCs," he explained.
Pimentel, who is president of Duterte's PDP-Laban, said he has yet to speak to incoming president Duterte.
"I have not yet extended the good news. I have not yet relayed the good news to Mayor Duterte. We also give credit to candidates for having chosen very responsible lawyers to represent them," he revealed.
Pimentel also dismissed the repeated manifestations of the camp of losing candidate Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. about undervotes.
"Siguro, if there is a candidate who plans to file and election protest then he or she will have to gather all the information about undervotes and then develop a theory which would justify an election protest based on undervotes," he said.
"Personally, I cannot see how you discovered 4 million undervotes. How could that affect the results because the mandate of the canvassing is to count the votes not 'no' votes or the null votes," Pimentel added.