Robredo asks PET for equal time as Marcos to comment on revision of votes’ report

MANILA, Philippines – Vice President Leni Robredo through her counsel has asked the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) more time to submit their comment on the report on the revision and appreciation of votes related to the three pilot provinces.

In its urgent motion dated Oct. 31, Robredo asked the Tribunal to give her equal time as that of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos to submit her comments.

“It is respectfully prayed of the Honorable Tribunal that protestee Robredo given an equal period of time as protestant Marcos to file her memorandum,” said Robredo’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal.

Both Robredo and Marcos are required to submit their memorandum within 20 working days containing their comment on the report on the revision and appreciation of votes related to the three pilot provinces Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

Robredo filed the urgent motion eight days after Marcos filed an omnibus motion last Oct. 23 and asked the PET to defer the submission of the required comment on the report, and to photocopy the relevant reports on the revision and appreciation of votes in the three pilot provinces.

The representatives of both parties were supposed to view the annexes of the report, but they were told that the PET clerk was still waiting for instructions and approval from PET.

The urgent motion also noted that PET has also yet to resolve the urgent motion she filed asking for soft copies of the annexes.

“In as much as protestee Robredo would like to comply with the Resolution dated 15 October 2019 and file her Memorandum within 20 working days, she cannot do so. From the time protestee Robredo received the resolution, seven out of the 20 working days has already lapsed without the annexes being viewed,” they said.

They added, “For this reason, protestee Robredo asks for an equal period of time to file memorandum as prayed for by protestant Marcos in his Omnibus Motion. This way, the parties will be able to file their simultaneous memorandum as directed by the Honorable Tribunal under its resolution dated 15 October 2019.”

The PET last month disclosed that after the recount, revision and re-appreciation of ballots from the three pilot provinces Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental reportedly showed that Robredo received 14,436,337 votes while Marcos only got 14,157,771 votes.

After the revision of ballots, Robredo’s lead increased by 15,093 votes from 263,473 votes to 278,566 votes.

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