MANILA, Philippines — As canvassing of votes for the presidential elections commenced, the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday reminded the public to “accept the decision of the majority.”
In his manifestation at Congress’ canvassing of the votes for the presidential and vice-presidential elections, Robredo’s election counsel Atty. Romulo Macalintal said their camp will not “object to the inclusion in the canvass of all the certificates of canvass for president from the various provincial and city boards of canvassers found by this honorable board to be authentic and duly executed.”
Macalintal likewise manifested that their camp is waiving appearance before Congress, which sits as the National Board of Canvassers.
But in a later clarification via a text message to INQUIRER.net, the veteran election lawyer said Robredo still has not conceded and that he was only quoting the incumbent Vice President when he made the manifestation before Congress.
“In her public statement, VP Leni Robredo asked her supporters that we need to accept the decision of the majority. Sinabi nya, bagaman may hindi pa nabibilang, bagaman may mga tanong ukol sa eleksyon na ito na kailangang matugunan, palinaw na ng palinaw ang tinig ng taumbayan,” Macalintal told legislators, apparently quoting the sitting Vice President.
“Sa ngalan ng Pilipinas na alam kong mahal na mahal ninyo, kailangan nating pakinggan ang tinig na ito dahil sa huli, iisa lang naman ang bayang pinagsasaluhan natin,” he added.
Veteran election lawyer Romulo Macalintal. FILE PHOTO
READ: Robredo hasn’t yielded, asks supporters to accept majority’s decision
Macalintal said that as the results of the elections get clearer, the supporters should begin to accept that the outcome might not be what they had envisioned.
“Habang lumilinaw na ang litrato, kailangan natin simulang tanggapin na hindi ayon sa mga pangarap natin ang resulta ng eleksyon,” Macalintal said.
“She said we need to accept the majority’s decision,” he added.
After Macalintal delivered his manifestation, Atty. Vic Rodriguez, the chief-of-staff of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., recognized Robredo’s “patriotism.”
“We join in the manifestation of my distinguished colleague and one of the election law practitioners, Atty Romulo ‘Romymac’ Macalintal,” Rodriguez said.
“Likewise, we would like to recognize and thank the patriotism exhibited by Vice President Leni Robredo for expressly recognizing the integrity and the result of the recently-concluded general elections,” he added.
The partial and unofficial count by the Commission on Elections showed Marcos leading the presidential race with over 31 million votes while Robredo, garnered 14.81 million votes.
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