Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal. (File photo from INQUIRER.net)
The ballot’s audit logs from 39 municipalities in Bato, Camarines Sur, which former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. claimed were missing, could be in the hands of election officers, Vice President Leni Robredo’s lawyer said on Tuesday.
Atty. Romulo Macalintal advised the camp of Marcos to read a resolution filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to understand what documents should be included inside the ballot box after the elections.
“Tutulungan na kita, Mr. Vic, tutulungan ko na kayo sa camp ninyo (I will help you Mr. Vic, I will help you in your camp). You read Resolution 10057 that was issued by the Comelec on Feb 11, 2016,” Macalintal said in an interview with ABS CBN News Channel (ANC), referring to Marcos’ lawyer, Atty. Vic Rodriguez.
He pointed out that based on Section 29 of the resolution, only “election returns, election voting, half of the turned ballots, and rejected ballot,” should be placed inside the ballot box.
The audit logs, which the Marcoses claimed to have been lost, should be handed to the Comelec, as provided for under Section 29 F, Macalintal said.
The said resolution is making Marcos’ claims on the missing audit logs invalid, Macaintal added.
The lawyer further slammed the Marcoses for not reading the resolutions of the Comelec.
“Hindi ho sign ng pandaraya yun. Yun po ay sign na hindi kayo nagbabasa ng mga resolution ng Comelec,” Macaintal said.
(That is not a sign of cheating. That is a sign that you are not reading the Comelec resolution.)
“At ngayon, sinisisi niyo na naman ang Comelec dahil sa sarili niyong kapabayaan,” Macaintal added.
(And now you are blaming the Comelec because of your own negligence.)
Rodriguez admitted the possibility that the audit logs could be in the hands of the Comelec. However, he insisted that it should be included inside the ballot boxes.
“It could be possible yes but remember, it should be inside the ballot boxes,” Rodriguez said also during the interview with ANC.
On Monday, Marcos claimed that out of 42 precincts in the town of Bato, Camarines 39 of which have missing audit logs.
The ballot’s audit logs would show the time when the precinct was opened, the time when the vote was cast, and the time when the precinct was closed.
READ: Bongbong cites ‘irregularities’ in ballot boxes with vote recount under way
The recount of votes for the electoral protest filed by Marcos against Robredo started on Monday. /jpv
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