Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo. (File photos from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)
The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo chided former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos for claiming he had won the 2016 vice presidential race, thus preempting the electoral protest he had filed against Robredo before the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).
“It was too presumptuous for Mr. Ferdinand Marcos (Jr.) to claim that he already ‘won the Vice Presidency’ or he is just dreaming,” lawyer Romulo Macalintal, Robredo’s lead counsel, said in a statement on Wednesday.
“If he won as vice president, why is it that it was Robredo who was proclaimed by Congress as winner?” Macalintal said.
“Mr. Marcos is merely trying to preempt the coming results of the recount of ballots where his ridiculous and frivolous claim of massive election cheating will be proven false and a mere imagined victory, which is the usual reaction of an election loser who cannot accept defeat in good grace,” he said.
Robredo’s camp also remained strong in their position that “no one has ever won in a recount of automated ballots” based on past recount of ballots.
“For the results of the recount will just tally with the results generated by the vote counting machines from the automated election system, which Marcos himself admitted to be credible and for which his first cause of action questioning the system was dismissed by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET),” Macalintal said.
“We hope that Mr. Marcos is not using this protest for political media mileage,” he added.
Earlier Wednesday, Marcos said in a press conference that he was not keen on seeking reelection in the Senate, even with President Rodrigo Duterte’s endorsement, so he could “finish” his electoral protest
“I don’t see any reason why I would change my mind,” he said. “Why would I run for senator? I already won as vice president.”
READ: ‘I am not running for Senate in 2019’ – Bongbong Marcos
The namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr. accused Robredo of cheating after lsing to her by over 230,000 votes, an allegation Robredo had repeatedly denied. /atm