Bongbong skeptical about Leni’s joint motion offer

Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS

Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos on Thursday said the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo was not serious in their offer to sign a joint motion to withdraw all their motions before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to clear the way for the recount.

Marcos joined his supporters at the Supreme Court expressing disappointment over the delay in the start of the recount.

Robredo’s counsel Atty. Romulo Macalintal earlier said that Marcos’ failure to show up at the venue of signing a joint motion to withdraw all their pending motions was an indication that the former senator was bluffing about his offer.

“You conduct the business of a case that is before the Supreme Court at a pizza parlor is not a serious offer,” Marcos said.

He said if the camp of the Vice President was serious about the joint motion, the signing should have been at the Supreme Court.

The Robredo camp, through Macalintal and Atty. Maria Bernadette Sardillo, filed the motion to withdraw all pending motions that could stop the recount before the Supreme Court sitting as PET.

But Marcos’ spokesperson, Atty. Vic Rodriguez, said Mrs. Robredo has no intention of withdrawing her pending motions because she did not sign the joint motion that her lawyer presented to the media.

Rodriguez also pointed out that in his joint motion only the name of Robredo’s counsel, Atty. Macalintal, appeared on the document.

“A joint manifestation is a major pleading and it cannot be done through counsel alone. It should also be signed by the client because it needs his or her conformity. Since Mrs. Robredo did not sign the pleading together with her lawyer, it is obvious that she has no intention to withdraw her motions,” Rodriguez said.

According to Rodriguez, the absence of Robredo’s signature puts into question her sincerity to hasten the pace of the PET process.  It likewise casts doubt on the authority of Macalintal who signed the motion.

“Without Mrs. Robredo’s signature, the motion is a mere scrap of paper and may be later disowned by her as having been signed without her authority. Tila gustong makalinlang na naman,” Rodriguez said.

Marcos himself also questioned the joint motion prepared by Macalintal, saying the same only covered pending motions and not future motions that may delay the proceedings.

Marcos filed the protest on June 29 2016, claiming that the camp of Robredo cheated in the automated polls in May that year.

He sought the annulment of about a million votes cast in three provinces – Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao.

In his protest, Marcos contested the results from 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities.

In his preliminary conference briefing, Marcos also sought for a recount in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

Robredo filed her answer in August last year and filed a counter-protest questioning the results from more than 30,000 polling precincts in several provinces where Marcos won.

She also sought the dismissal of the protest for lack of merit and jurisdiction of PET.

The high tribunal, in a ruling earlier this year, junked Robredo’s plea and proceeded with the case after finding the protest sufficient in form and substance.

Robredo won the vice presidential race in the May 2016 polls with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 more than Marcos’ 14,155,344 votes.