For questioning poll system’s integrity, Bongbong must pay P185M — Robredo lawyer

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. must pay cash deposits not only for the clustered precincts he has cited in his electoral protest, but for all precincts that functioned during the May 2016 elections, the lead counsel of Vice President Leni Robredo said Monday.

The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has required Marcos to pay P66 million of the total of P81.46 million that it said is needed to move his protest against Robredo's victory forward.

The PET said the amount covered a total of 132,446 established precincts, which were within the 39,221 clustered precincts that Marcos is questioning, majority of which he is seeking manual count for.

However, Robredo’s lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said Marcos should pay some P185 million to cover all 369,138 established precincts within the 92,509 clustered precincts in the May 2016 elections.

Macalintal said this should be done because Marcos “questioned the integrity and reliability” of all machines used during the 2016 elections, as indicated in the “first cause of action” sought by his protest against Robredo.

He also noted that Marcos’ request for a precautionary protection order last year also held back the return of over 97,000 vote-counting machines (VCMs) that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) rented from technology provider Smartmatic.

The company had demanded P2 billion for this, saying the units were “good as sold” because the poll body missed the December 1, 2016 deadline for turnover of the leased machines. 

“‘Yung first cause of action, sabi niya, doon raw sa 92,000 na clustered precincts, mali-mali ‘yung mga vote counting machines (VCMs), mali-mali ‘yung consolidated computerized system (CCS), mali-mali ‘yung storage system devices. So sinasabi niya na maraming pagkakamali ‘yung pagbilang,” Macalintal told reporters on Monday.

“In other words, he protested the entire precincts in connection with the operation of the machines na ginamit. So sabi namin, dahil kinukwestyon mo lahat ‘yan, dapat bayaran mo rin ‘yan,” he added.

The PET is requiring both Marcos and Robredo to pay a total of P81.46 million, which will be used for the retrieval of contested ballot boxes and election documents from contested precincts. 

Of this amount, determined at P500 per precinct, P66 million must be paid by Marcos and P15.4 million for Robredo.

The payment would be done in two tranches, the first of which was scheduled on April 14. This was moved to the next working day, April 17, since the initial deadline fell on Good Friday, a national holiday.

Marcos’ camp has contested this, saying the cash deposits should have been computed based on clustered—not established—precincts. They have also lamented the late release of the order, dated March 21, but received by the camps only last week.

For her part, Robredo, through her lawyers, filed a manifestation last April 12, which included its request for clarification on the fees that Marcos must settle.

Moreover, Robredo also asked the high court to hold in abeyance the payment required of her for the 8,042 counter-protested clustered precincts.

Macalintal noted that materials from all precincts contested by Marcos must be retrieved and opened first to see if there is sufficient basis to move the protest forward.

“Ganu’n naman talaga ang usual procedure. Kailangan munang matapos na mabuksan ‘yung lahat ng protested precincts ni Mr. Marcos, then saka naman kami. Lahat ng mga protesta, ganu’n—uunahin muna ‘yung nagpoprotesta. ‘Pag natapos na ‘yung mga pinabuksan niyang balota, at sa tingin niya ay meron siyang na-recover, at sa tingin ng pinoprotesta ay kailangang sagutin ‘yun sa pamamagitan ng pagbubukas ng ballot boxes, pabubuksan namin ‘yung ballot boxes,” Macalintal said.

For initial determination of the grounds for protest, PET rules since 2010 state that the tribunal may require either protestant or counter-protestant to point at “not more than three” provinces “best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged” in the petition. 

Sought for comment, Marcos’ lead counsel, George Garcia, told GMA News Online that Macalintal’s claim may be “off-tangent,” noting that cash deposits are only ordered for precincts where manual count is sought.

“‘Yung sa first cause of action [questioning the integrity of the machines], hindi naman namin hiningi ‘yung revision of ballots for all those precincts,” he said. 

Garcia also reiterated that the PET should compute required cash deposits by clustered precincts.

He also said the current computation is incorrect not only because it was based on established precincts, but because it covered those within the 2,756 clustered precincts from three provinces where Marcos is asking the tribunal to nullify results. —KBK, GMA News