Robredo camp tags as ‘ridiculous’ report about pre-shaded ballots

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

Unused or excess ballots in a town in Camarines Sur with pre-shaded votes for Vice President Leni Robredo were reportedly discovered during the third day of recount of votes related to the vice presidential race in the 2016 polls.

Sources said the ballots came from Baao town, where a couple of wet ballot boxes were also found last Tuesday.

However, there was no detail about the number of pre-shaded ballots.

Aside from the pre-shaded ballots, sources added that the revisors found several ballots that were cut in half – which meant that they were unused or excess ballots. They were discovered mixed in with the valid ballots with votes for Robredo.

Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, spokesman of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said: “Ito na po yung resulta o produkto ng ating quest for truth, search for truth kung tawagin. Ito na po yung truth. Nasisiwalat na po sa mga mata natin ang katotohanan.”

But Robredo’s camp branded as “ridiculous” the information about the unused ballots.

“We find the report ridiculous, since at that time, only one ballot box was opened and this report surfaced immediately,” said Bernadette Sardillo, one of the Vice President’s lawyers. “How can this be reported that quick if no telephones or any mode of outside communication is allowed inside the revision area?”

“These could be rejected ballots that were mistakenly placed inside the envelope for unused ballots. Based on experience – due to the conditions inside the precincts – mistakes happen,” Sardillo said, adding that the report could be another attempt from the Marcos camp to confuse the public.

On the first two days of the recount, six wet ballot boxes were found from Bato and Baao towns in Camarines Sur.

Marcos also questioned the missing audit logs from clustered precincts in Bato town discovered by revisors upon opening of the ballot boxes.

He revealed that 39 out of 40 ballot boxes from the town in Camarines Sur – one of the three pilot provinces he identified for the recount – did not have audit logs. /atm