Robredo asks PET again to reconsider ruling on Marcos protest

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo. (File photos from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo repeated her request on Wednesday to the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to reconsider its earlier order finding sufficiency in the electoral protest of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

In a supplement to her motion for reconsideration, Robredo, through her counsel Romulo Macalintal, said the PET should not tolerate the strategy of Marcos of trying to circumvent the rules by fishing for evidence to support his electoral case.

“Through a skillful strategy, protestant is thus trying to circumvent the rules, but clearly, protestant Marcos is not sure of his case and is therefore fishing for evidence. It is respectfully submitted that this should not be tolerated by this Honorable Tribunal,” Robredo said in her motion dated June 28 but made public only on Wednesday (July 5).

She asked the PET to reconsider its resolution last Jan. 24, 2017 finding sufficiency in the electoral case and grant her motion for reconsideration.

Robredo said Marcos in the second cause of action in his case protested the election results in all the clustered precincts in 30 areas, or a total of 39,221 clustered precincts. But when asked to designate the three provinces “best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged in his protest,” as required under Rule 65 of the 2010 Rules of the PET, he listed the provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

But Robredo said Marcos, in the same breath, declared that he was reserving his right to change the designation of the three pilot provinces.

“Protestant thus admits that he does not know what frauds and irregularities occurred in the precincts that he is protesting,” Robredo said. “His
election protest does not give a detailed specification of the acts and omission showing electoral frauds and irregularities in violation of Rule 17 of the PET Rules.”

Robredo said Marcos’s plea to the PET only proved that he didn’t have evidence when he filed his protest.

Marcos had asked the PET to immediately conduct a technical examination and forensic investigation of all 647,000 ballots, ballot images, voters’ receipts, election returns, audit logs, transmission logs, lists of voters, and election day computerized voter’s list.

He also asked for an examination of the vote counting machines, the consolidation and canvass system units, secure digital cards and other storage devices containing electronic data and ballot images in the protested precincts of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao.

He also insisted to be allowed to use the results of the technical and forensic investigation as part of evidence.

“If the entire election is invalid, there is no basis for him to demand that valuable time and resources be devoted to any revision or technical examination,” she added.

Marcos filed an election protest against Robredo in June 2016, contesting 39,221 clustered precincts, which are composed of 132,446 established precincts.

Of the 39,221 clustered precincts, 36, 445 are for manual recounting, while the remaining 2,756 are for annulment of the election results.

Robredo then filed a counter-protest, questioning 8,042 clustered precincts composed of 31,278 established precincts.

The PET set the preliminary conference of the case for July 11. /atm