Comelec may be unable to proclaim 13th senator yet, poll official says

A Commission on Elections (Comelec) official said that the body may be unable to proclaim a 13th senator to fill the vacancy to be left by Senator Benigno Aquino III, who is expected to be proclaimed the next president. Technically, the Senate seat is not yet vacant, Comelec Commissioner Greogorio Larrazabal told reporters in an ambush interview on Monday. "The votes for the presidency haven’t yet been canvassed. So Senator Aquino is still a senator. He hasn’t been declared therefore his position is not yet vacant. You cannot proclaim a 13th senator because there's no 13th (senatorial post) to speak of," he said. A joint session of Congress, sitting as the NBOC, will serve as the canvassing board for the positions of president and vice president. But at the same time, Larrazabal said that his sentiments do not represent the whole commission. "It really depends on the (Comelec) en banc," he said. He likewise said that it is up to the Congress whether it will call for a special elections for that one seat once it is officially vacated. He said that one option is to conduct this elections at the same time as the barangay elections in October. On the other hand, the poll body said that it will definitely have to wait for all the COCs to come in before they can proclaim the winners for the party-list race because the votes cast for the contest is factored into the computation of the winners and the seats awarded to them. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV