Marcos: Robredo delaying poll protest case

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday accused Vice President Leni Robredo of arbitrarily hampering the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), from conducting a preliminary hearing on the electoral protest he had filed questioning her victory in the May 2016 balloting.

In an 11-page reply, Marcos told the high court that Robredo’s attempt to block the PET from setting a preliminary conference was “obviously dilatory.”

He said Robredo, who ran under the Liberal Party, should not hinder the electoral body from discussing the merits of his petition if she really believed she won the vice presidential race without committing fraud.

Marcos, who narrowly lost to Robredo by over 200,000 votes, pointed out that holding a preliminary conference was intended to help the PET in determining the “order of trial and other procedural matters.” —MARLON RAMOS