MANILA, Philippines - If no president is proclaimed by June 30 this year, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo can call for a special session in Congress to enable a law for special elections, a constitutional lawyer said Monday.

"[President Arroyo] can call for a special session. She is still president (by June 30), but after that she can’t assume power," UP College of Law Dean Marvic Leonen said in an interview on ANC’s "Talkback."

"The Constitution is very specific," he said, adding that Mrs. Arroyo can call for a special session until 11:59 a.m. of June 30.

Leonen noted that the President, Senate President and House Speaker are all running for electoral posts in the May 10 elections. President Arroyo is running for a congressional seat in Pampanga, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is running for another term and House Speaker Prospero Nograles is running for the mayoralty post of Davao City.

Leonen cited three different scenarios that could cause concern: that the elections will not push through on May 10; that failure of elections will be declared in large areas of the country; and that the credibility of the counting of votes is questioned.

"If the surveys are going to show— let’s say 2 or 3 candidates almost neck in neck or statistically tied — and you have elections and the count at the National Board of Canvassing becomes chaotic, or that there will be a lot of questions will be raised, then the public will have to determine for themselves if the elections will be valid," Leonen said.

"Of course if there's no proclamation by June 30, that's the critical (point)," Leonen said, adding that the third example can lead to a no-proclamation scenario.

Should this occur, Leonen cited several provisions of the Constitution as guidelines.

Article 7 Sec. 7 states that “(w)here no President and Vice-President shall have been chosen or shall have qualified, or where both shall have died or become permanently disabled, the President of the Senate or, in case of his inability, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, shall act as President until a President or a Vice-President shall have been chosen and qualified.”

Meanwhile Sec. 10 mandates Congress to convene three days within June 30 and pass a law calling for a special election if a president is not qualified by June 30.

Sen. Francis Escudero said if a special session is called three days after June 30, that session shall include the congressmen-elect, who can take their oaths in the plenary.

Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal of the Commission on Elections assured the public that the poll body is working on contingency plans to ensure the smooth conduct of elections.

“We are going overboard in being proactive. What we do now, we tell the media, we tell the public so people are informed not only once it’s already happened but before it happens so that they know what to expect," he said in the ANC program.

Leonen said the Comelec should be even more transparent, effective and efficient to quell fears and doubts over the May polls.
 
He said the people should also be educated on what the Constitution provides to make them aware of what would happen in case no president is proclaimed by June 30, 2010.