4 head revisors in VP vote recount resign

REVISION HALL A former gym on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court-Court of Appeals building on Padre Faura Street in Manila will be the venue of the manual recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential election. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Only a day after the kick off, four head revisors in the manual vote recount between Vice President Leni Robredo and defeated candidate Bongbong Marcos Jr. have resigned, both of Robredo and Marcos’ camps bared on Tuesday.

“That is confirmed. Worth asking why, considering that these are highly qualified people chosen no less by the PET (Presidential Electoral Tribunal) and even underwent a rigid psych test,” Marcos’ lawyer Victor Rodriguez said in a text message.

Marcos’ camp had also issued another statement saying that their resignations should  “not result in another round of delays especially now that we have started to uncover clear signs of fraud.”

“They are no ordinary revisors, having undergone rigid psychological test and meticulous screening by the PET. They must have a compelling reason for backing out and I am one with the Filipino people in asking why,” the statement read.

Lawyer Bernadette Sardillo, a counsel for Robredo, said in a text message that the resignations were “unfortunate as this will once more cause delay in the proceedings.”

A head revisor leads a three-member committee, composed of the head revisor himself as well as one representative each from the Robredo and Marcos camps.

Marcos, who accused Robredo of cheating him, identified the three “pilot provinces” of Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo in his poll protest.

PET ad hoc committee member John Lemuel Arenas said a total of 5,418 ballot boxes from every clustered polling precinct in the three provinces would be opened by the revision committees. /je