CONGRESS , sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), will start the official canvassing of poll results on May 24, and will proclaim the newly-elected president and vice president by May 27.

In a press briefing, House Speaker Lord Allan said five to seven days of canvassing may be too long and promised that ‘everything will be done by June.’

In the same press briefing, Senate President Sotto said the plan is to start the canvassing on the morning of May 24 since the House and Senate are about to resume session the day before or May 23.

Both chambers on Monday conducted the final run-through of the Consolidation and canvassing system (CCS) initialization process at the Batasang Pambansa.

Canvassing of votes in previous elections took long as it was done manually.

“This time it’s gonna be computerized. So you won’t see anymore white boards, manual tallies,” the Speaker added.

For his part, Senate President Sotto said the plan is to start the canvassing on the morning of May 24 since the House and Senate are about to resume session the day before or May 23.

He said that will be the time the Senate would name its seven representatives to the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC). The members of the Congressional Canvass Committee acting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) will be presided over by Speaker Velasco and Senate President Sotto.

Also during the press briefing Speaker Velasco and Senate President Sotto welcomed foreign observers who are in the country for the 2022 general elections.

During the meeting, they discussed the physical arrangements, protocols, proposed scenario for the initialization of the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) set for as well as technical and security matters.

House Legislative Affairs Department (LAD) Deputy Secretary General Atty. Annalou Nachura said that the CCS machine is expected to arrive at the House, and it would be closely guarded until adjournment of the canvassing committee and the joint public session.

Moreover, access to the House premises would be limited. She added that candidates and their representatives would be required to submit their individual negative antigen test result and Health Declaration Form (HDF).

Also present during the initialization of the CSS machine were Senate Secretary Myra Villarica, House Secretary General Mark Llandro Mendoza, representatives from the Commission on Elections, House members, and other officials from both houses of Congress. By RYAN PONCE PACPACO