Sotto questions zero votes of candidates in 2016 polls
Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto III (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Some senators, including then presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe, had allegedly received zero votes in some precincts during the last 2016 elections, Senate Majority Leader Vicente “Tito” Sotto III said on Tuesday, citing information from an “impeccable” source.
Sotto made the disclosure after he exposed in a privilege speech the alleged “irregularities” that transpired during the 2016 polls.
After the speech, Senator Panfilo Lacson asked the Majority Leader who had lost votes from the alleged cheating and who had also benefitted from it.
“Yung nakinabang perhaps Mr. President if the subpoenaed logs will be presented by Comelec and Smartmatic, malalaman natin kung sino ang mga nakinabang…” Sotto said responding to Lacson’s queries.
(Those who benefitted perharps Mr. President if the subpoenaed logs will be presented by Comelec and Smartmatic, we’ll know who had benefitted.)
“Dun sa mga hindi nakinabang , tyak na marami. Like Senator Poe, Senator Lacson. Marami kayong na zero. Dito sa mga transmission na ito, zero kayo.”
(Those who did not benefit, I’m sure there are a lot. Like Senator Poe, Senator Lacson. A lot of you got zero. Here in this transmission, all of you got zero.)
“Napakarami pong na zero, ikinalulungkot kong ibalita na hindi lang si Grace Poe at saka si Senator Lacson ang na-zero ako din, ako din maraming zero,” Sotto added.
(A lot got zero, I really regret to announce that it was not only Grace Poe and Senator Lacson who got zero, I am also, I also got zero.)
He said Lacson, for instance, had zero votes in 819 precincts while Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri got the same result in 693 precincts. Defeated senatorial bet, Francis Tolentino, also got zero votes in 816 precincts.
Sotto did not say the number of precincts Poe had supposedly received zero votes, saying he would rather wait for the probe to reveal it.
He assured that the source of his information was “impeccable” but he refused to identify him.
“I will not say from what company he is with because baka mag witch hunt na run se kanila e,” the Majority Leader said. /jpv
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