Vice President Jejomar Binay (left) and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
“For his good and for the benefit of the nation,” Interior Secretary Mar Roxas should withdraw his election protest against Vice-President Jejomar Binay over the results of the 2010 vice presidential election, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said on Sunday.
“Time has run out for Roxas to pursue this case and the Supreme Court acting as a Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) likewise lacks the much-needed time to resolve such case considering that not a single ballot box from the more than 60,000 precincts protested by Roxas has been delivered to the PET for the revision or recount of the ballots,” Macalintal said in a statement.
The election lawyer said that in actual practice or experience, the PET would need at least two years to resolve an election protest where millions of ballots would be recounted.
“Furthermore, it would be impractical for Roxas to spend close to P100 million pesos to pursue this case at this stage when the term of office of the contested position is about to end and the election for the same position is just around the corner, so to speak,” Macalintal added.
Roxas would likewise “do a great service to the nation” in withdrawing his protest, the lawyer said, because taxpayers have beenspending close to P90 million a year for the budget of the PET whose main task has been resolve cases involving the election protest of the President and/or vice president.
Macalintal estimated that since 2010, a total of about P450 million has been spent by the people for the allowances and other expenses of the PET for Roxas’ protest, which practically never moved since its filing in July 2010.
“Furthermore, with the withdrawal of his election protest, some election paraphernalia which are being used to protect the ballots under protest, such as some ballot boxes and voting records, could still be used in the forthcoming 2016 elections,” Macalintal added.
Congress, acting as the canvassing board for president and vice president, proclaimed Binay winner on June 9, 2010. Roxas filed the protest against Binay a month later, claiming the high incidence of null votes — numbering up to 2.6 million — which he said affected the vote tally. He also demanded that 26,000 compact flash cards, which stored the election results, be opened.
The proceedings are still in the preliminary stage, with the PET yet to resolve a motion filed by Roxas for the forensic examination of the software used in the 2010 polls. Binay filed a third motion to dismiss the suit last June, citing Roxas’ failure to comply with requirements, such as the filing of docket fees.