Robredo to pay when PET resolves motion on required fees – lawyer

The lead counsel of Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday said they will comply with the order of the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), should it direct them again to make the required cash deposit now.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal made the assurance after the camp of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. formally asked the PET to dismiss Robredo’s counter-protest, over her “failure” to pay P8 million as initial compliance to the tribunal’s required fees. 

Macalintal noted that they have a pending motion about the payment, filed before the tribunal last April 12.

“We will wait for the PET to resolve the matter,” he said in a statement. “If the PET decides we should pay now, we will make the necessary payment.”

In the said manifestation, Robredo’s camp asked the high court to “hold in abeyance” the payment required from her end, until the “legitimacy of the merits” of Marcos’ protest has been established.

They also sought a clarification on the fees that Marcos must settle, asserting that the former senator must pay P185 million, to cover not only the clustered precincts he is seeking recount for, but for all the 369,138 established precincts that functioned during the May polls. 

Macalintal said this must be done because Marcos questioned the “integrity and reliability” of machines used during the elections, as indicated in the “first cause of action” in his protest.

The tribunal required Marcos and Robredo to raise 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 established precinct, P66 million must come from Marcos and the other P15.4 million from Robredo.

The payment would be done in two tranches, the first was initially scheduled on April 14, Good Friday, but was moved to the next working day, April 17.

Marcos was able to pay P36 million for the first installment of required fees on Monday, saying friends and supporters gathered this amount for him. — RSJ, GMA News