RULES OF THE JOINT PUBLIC SESSION OF CONGRESS

ON CANVASSING THE VOTES CAST FOR THE

PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES
IN THE MAY 10, 2010 ELECTIONS

RULE I
JOINT PUBLIC SESSION

SEC. 1. Session. – Pursuant to Article VII, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution, the
Senate and the House of Representatives shall meet in a Joint Public Session not later
than thirty (30) days after the election to canvass the votes for President and Vice
President of the Philippines. The Joint Public Session shall be held at the Plenary Hall
of the House of Representatives on the date and time as set forth in a concurrent
resolution approved by both Houses.

RULE II
PRESIDING OFFICERS

SEC. 2. The Senate. - The President of the Senate shall open and preside over the
Joint Public Session on the part of the Senate.

SEC. 3. The House of Representatives. - The Speaker of the House of

Representatives shall open and preside over the Joint Public Session on the part of the
House of Representatives.

RULE III
QUORUM

SEC. 4. Quorum. - A majority of each House shall constitute a quorum and in its
absence in the Senate or in the House of Representatives, a smaller number may
adjourn from day to day and the House affected may compel the attendance of absent
members in accordance with its Rules.

SEC. 5. Question of Quorum. Should the question of quorum be raised, the Presiding
Officer of the House to which the Member raising the question belongs, shall without
debate, immediately proceed to a verification thereof by causing the reading of the roll
of Senators or Members of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, and the
Senate President or House Speaker shall forthwith announce the results.

RULE IV
ORDER OF BUSINESS

SEC. 6. Order of Business. - The Order of Business of the Joint Public Session shall
consist of:

(a) National Anthem;

(b) Invocation;

(c) Roll Call;

(d) Adoption of the Rules of the Joint Public Session;

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 (e) Creation of a Joint Committee to Canvass the Votes for President and
Vice-President;

(f) Reference of Business:

(1) Message from the Commission on Elections;

(2) Other Messages;

(3) Communications;

(g) Opening of Certificates of Canvass (CoCs) by the Joint Committee;

(h) Canvassing of Votes by the Joint Committee;

(i) Consideration and Approval of the Joint Committee Report and the
Resolution of Both Houses Proclaiming the Duly Elected President and
Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines;

(j) Proclamation of the President-elect and the Vice President-elect by the

President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives;
and

(k) Approval of the Journal of the Joint Public Session.

RULE V
JOURNAL AND RECORD

SEC. 7. Journal and Record. - Congress shall keep a Journal of its Joint Public
Session and the proceedings of the Joint Committee, which shall contain a succinct and
accurate account of what has taken place in every session and in the meetings of the
Joint Committee.

Congress shall also keep a Record of the proceedings of the Joint Public
Session.

The preparation of the Journal and the Record shall be under the joint
supervision of the Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General of the House of
Representatives and the latter shall undertake the printing thereof.

RULE VI
WATCHERS AND ATTORNEYS

SEC. 8. Watchers and Attorneys. - Each candidate shall be entitled to watchers who
shall register their attendance before the Joint Committee and may be allowed to watch
over the ballot boxes containing the printed CoCs, manually counted and physically
transmitted CoCs, Statements of Votes (SoVs), back-up CDs and the Consolidation
and Canvassing System (CCS) installed at the House of Representatives containing
the electronically transmitted CoCs upon convening of the Joint Public Session until the
canvassing is terminated and the winning candidates proclaimed: Provided, That only
two (2) registered watchers shall sit at a designated place with access to an
unimpeded view of the entire canvassing proceedings.

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 Each candidate shall likewise be entitled to attorneys who shall serve during the
entire canvassing proceedings. The attorneys shall register their appearances before
the Joint Committee: Provided, That only two (2) registered attorneys for each
candidate shall sit at any given time in a place designated for them; Provided further,
That only one registered attorney for every candidate may speak before the Joint
Committee for not more than three (3) minutes which may be extended for a similar
period by the Senate President or the House Speaker when warranted.

RULE VII
JOINT COMMITTEE

SEC. 9. Creation and Membership. - A Joint Committee shall be created composed of

nine (9) members of the Senate, including its chairperson, to be appointed by the
Senate President, and nine (9) members from the House of Representatives, including
its chairperson, to be appointed by the House Speaker. The Senate President and the
House Speaker, respectively, shall be the chairperson of each House panel: Provided,
That a Member of Congress who is a candidate for President and Vice President shall
not be eligible for appointment to the Joint Committee.

SEC. 10. Voting. - The Joint Committee shall decide any question involving the CoCs
by a majority vote of its Members, each panel voting separately. In case the two panels
disagree, the decision of the Senate President and the House Speaker shall prevail.

SEC. 11. Contempt Power. - The Senate President and the House Speaker, for and in
behalf of the Joint Committee, may punish for contempt any member of the city, district
or provincial BoCs who refuses without reasonable cause to obey any order issued by
them.

In the same manner, they shall have the power to punish for contempt any
person who commits disorderly behavior during its meetings or any party who
introduces any manufactured, spurious, altered or tampered certificate of canvass.

SEC. 12. Request for Technical and Other Assistance. The Senate President and the
House Speaker may request technical and other assistance from the Commission on
Elections (COMELEC) for purposes of the canvassing of votes. They may direct the
COMELEC to submit the list of names, specimen signatures and thumbmarks of the
chairmen and members of the city, district or provincial BoCs for the determination of
the authenticity and due execution of the printed CoCs and the manually counted and
physically transmitted CoCs. They may also require that, in addition to the CoCs,
SoVs, and printed election returns delivered to Congress, the back-up memory cards
containing the election returns as electronically transmitted to the BoCs and other
related data sources be delivered to Congress.

The Joint Committee may require the personal appearance of the chairmen and
members of the provincial, city, district and special Board of Canvassers.

RULE VIII
CANVASS OF VOTES

SEC. 13. Duty to Canvass. – In the performance of its constitutional duty to canvass the
votes for President and Vice President, Congress shall ensure that the true will of the
electorate is upheld.

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 The Joint Committee shall, upon determination of due execution and authenticity
of the CoCs, canvass the votes of the candidates for President and Vice President.

It shall meet continuously until all the CoCs referred to it by the Joint Public
Session shall have been canvassed.

SEC. 14. Opening of the Certificates of Canvass. – Upon convening of the Joint
Committee, the Senate President and the House Speaker shall open, in the order they
were received, all PRINTED CoCs and their accompanying SoVs, and the manually
counted and physically transmitted CoCs such as the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV)
CoCs, other than the CoCs from Singapore and Hongkong and the Local Absentee
Voting CoCs.

The Senate President and the House Speaker may delegate the opening of the
CoCs to the Senate Secretary and the House Secretary General.

SEC. 15. Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) Operators. – The Senate
President and the House Speaker shall designate and deputize information technology
– capable persons to operate the CCS.

SEC. 16. Statements and Observations on the Condition of the Certificates of Canvass.
A statement or observation by the members of the Joint Committee on the condition of
the printed and manually counted and physically transmitted CoCs, the envelope,
individual seal and serial number of the CoCs shall be entered in the Journal of the
proceedings.

SEC. 17. Determination of Due Execution and Authenticity of the Certificates of

Canvass. - The Joint Committee shall satisfy itself that (a) each CoC was duly
executed, signed and thumbmarked by the Chairman and Members of the city, district
or provincial BoCs; (b) that it contains the names of all the candidates for President and
Vice President and their corresponding votes in words and figures; and (c) that there
exists no discrepancy in other authentic copies of the CoCs or in any of its supporting
documents such as statements of votes by city, district or provincial BoCs or
discrepancy in the votes of any candidate in words and figures in the certificate.

SEC. 18. Comparison of Printed Certificate of Canvass and Electronically Transmitted

Certificate of Canvass. The Joint Committee shall proceed to open the corresponding
electronically transmitted CoCs, and a copy thereof shall be generated from the
Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS). The Joint Committee shall ascertain
that the number of votes cast for each presidential and vice-presidential candidate in
the printed CoCs and in the electronically transmitted CoCs are identical. Should there
exist any discrepancy between the printed and electronically transmitted CoCs, the
canvass of the CoC shall be deferred.

The Joint Committee may likewise satisfy itself on the authenticity and due
execution of the electronically transmitted CoCs, which procedure shall conform to the
provisions of Republic Act no. 7166 (Synchronized National and Local Elections of
1991), as supplemented and modified by Republic Act no. 8436 (Authorizing
COMELEC to use an Automated Elections in the 11 May 1998 National and Local
Elections) and Republic Act no. 9369 (Automated Election System Act of 2007) and by
applicable authentication and certification procedures for electronic data, electronic
documents and electronic signatures as provided under Republic Act no. 8792
(Electronic Commerce Act), and the Supreme Court Rules on Electronic Evidence.

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SEC. 19. Procedure In the Disposition of Certificates of Canvass.

(a) The Joint Committee shall continuously canvass all printed and manually
counted and physically transmitted CoCs.

(b) Objection to the inclusion of a CoC shall be raised at the time the CoC is being
considered. Such objection may be submitted in writing together with evidence in
support of the objection. All objections shall be recorded in the minutes of the
meeting of the Joint Committee.

(c) The Senate President and the House Speaker may order the deferment of the
canvass of the contested CoC.

(d) After canvassing all uncontested CoCs, the Joint Committee shall resolve the
objections raised on the contested CoCs by a majority vote of its members, each
panel voting separately. In case of disagreement, the decision of the Senate
President and the House Speaker shall prevail.

SEC. 20. Discrepancy Between the Printed Certificates of Canvass and the
Electronically Transmitted Certificates of Canvass. Should there exist a discrepancy
between the printed CoCs and the electronically transmitted CoCs with regard to the
number of votes cast for each Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate, the Joint
Committee shall require the Board of Canvassers concerned to appear before it and
explain the discrepancy.

The Joint Committee may order the production, examination and comparison of
the compact flash (CF) cards (both the main memory and back up cards) from the
Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine, the secure digital (SD) card from the
CCS machine, the audit logs, and the printed or generated election returns, SoVs by
precincts, city or municipal CoCs, SoVs by city or municipality and provincial CoCs.

If the discrepancy cannot be reconciled or resolved on the basis of an

examination of the foregoing CF and SD cards, and the printed or generated copies
from the concerned precincts and/or canvassing centers, the Joint Committee may
order the opening of a pre-determined number of precinct ballot boxes of that particular
city, district or province.

SEC. 21. Delayed, Lost, Destroyed or Unavailable Certificates of Canvass. - In case

the copy of the CoC is delayed, the Senate President and the House Speaker shall
order the city, district or provincial BoCs concerned to deliver the said CoC within a
period of two (2) days. In case the CoC has been lost, destroyed or is otherwise
unavailable, the Senate President and the House Speaker shall immediately request
the COMELEC for its authentic copy of said CoC.

SEC. 22. Incomplete Certificate of Canvass. - When the CoC, duly certified by the BoC
of each city, district or province, appears to be incomplete, the Senate President and
the House Speaker shall require the BoC concerned to transmit by personal delivery,
the election returns from polling places that were not included in the CoC and
supporting documents. Said election returns shall be submitted by personal delivery
within two (2) days from receipt of notice.

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SEC. 23. Erasures or Alterations in the Certificates of Canvass. When it appears that
any CoC or supporting statement of votes bears erasures or alterations which may cast
doubt as to the veracity of the number of votes stated therein and may affect the result
of the election, upon request of the Presidential or Vice Presidential candidate
concerned or his party, Congress shall, for the sole purpose of verifying the actual
number of votes cast for President and Vice President, count the votes as they appear
in the copies of the election returns.

RULE IX
REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE

SEC. 24. Preparation of the Report. - The Joint Committee shall tabulate and
consolidate the total number of votes in all the canvassed CoCs.

The Joint Committee shall prepare its report on the canvass for submission to the
Joint Public Session. In cases when not all CoCs have been received or canvassed,
the Joint Committee may recommend the termination of the canvass and submit its
report to the Joint Public Session if the total number of registered voters corresponding
to the city, district or province, covered by the CoCs not yet received or canvassed
would no longer affect the results of the election.

The Joint Committee may, in its discretion, submit an interim report to the
Congress in Joint Public Session whenever there is a need for guidance or direction:
Provided, That objections raised and rulings made thereon shall no longer be included
in the final report.

SEC. 25. Approval of the Report by the Joint Committee. The Joint Committee shall
approve its Report by a majority vote of all its members, each panel voting separately.
Provided, That the report shall be signed by the majority of the members of each panel,
Provided further, That no committee report shall be submitted to the Joint Public
Session without the signatures of the Senate President and the House Speaker.

Any Member may submit a separate concurring or dissenting opinion for

inclusion in the records of the Joint Public Session.

RULE X
CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF THE REPORT
OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE AND RESOLUTION OF BOTH HOUSES

SEC. 26. Consideration of the Joint Committee Report. – During the Joint Public
Session, the Member designated by the Joint Committee shall speak for not more than
thirty (30) minutes on the report of the Joint Committee and the accompanying
Resolution of Both Houses, declaring the results of the canvass and proclaiming the
President-Elect and Vice President-Elect. The Member designated by those against the
report shall also speak for not more than thirty (30) minutes. Subsequent speakers for
or against the resolution shall be allowed to speak for not more than one (1) hour:
Provided, That one (1) speaker for each candidate shall be given the opportunity to
speak for not more than five (5) minutes.

SEC. 27. Approval of the Joint Committee Report and the Resolution of Both Houses.
– A majority of the Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, voting
separately, shall approve the Joint Committee Report and the accompanying
Resolution of Both Houses proclaiming the duly elected President and Vice President.

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 RULE XI
PROCLAMATION

SEC. 28. Proclamation of the President-Elect and Vice President-Elect. - Upon

adoption of the Resolution of Both Houses, the Senate President and the House
Speaker shall forthwith proclaim the President-elect and the Vice-President-elect.

RULE XII
RECORDS OF PROCEEDINGS

SEC. 29. Archival of the Records of Proceedings. - All records of the canvass shall be
transmitted to the Archives of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

RULE XIII
SUPPLETORY RULES

SEC. 30. Suppletory Rules. - The Rules of the Senate, the Rules of the House of
Representatives and the Rules of Court on Evidence shall be suppletory to these Rules
insofar as they are not inconsistent herewith.

RULE XIV
EFFECTIVITY

SEC. 31. Effectivity. - These Rules shall take effect on the date of their adoption.

Adopted, 25 May 2010