Robredo asks PET to release initial recount

MANILA, Philippines — The lawyers of Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday filed a motion in the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to release the report on the initial recount in connection with the protest filed by 2016 vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The PET is reportedly set to decide on the protest on Tuesday, although Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, in a television interview on Monday, expressed doubt that the electoral case would be resolved before he retires on Oct. 17.

Marcos, who lost by some 260,000 votes in the final official count, claimed widespread fraud and irregularities in the 2016 polls. —Jhesset O. Enano and Tina G. Santos