Bongbong Marcos completes payment of P66-M poll protest fee

Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. had to sell his condominium unit just to gather enough funds to complete the payment of the P66.02 million required by the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), for his poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Marcos’ counsel, George Garcia, told GMA News Online Tuesday that they deposited P30 million in two manager’s checks to the SC’s Cash Collection and Disbursement Division on Monday, four days ahead of the July 14 deadline for the payment of the second installment.

Marcos paid the initial deposit of P36,023,000 on April 17.

Garcia said Marcos and his friends pooled their resources in order to raise the amount, which will be used for the retrieval of contested ballot boxes and election documents from contested precincts.

“He received support from his friends. Also, from what I know, the former senator even had to sell his condominium unit,” the lawyer said. “I don’t have enough details about the sale. He only mentioned it to me yesterday.”

Marcos obtained the amount for the first installment with the help of some 40 friends and supporters  who agree that he was cheated of victory in the very-close vice presidential contest in May last year.

Robredo, on the other hand, is required to pay P7,439,000 for the second installment in relation to her counter protest. She posted the initial deposit of P8 million on May 2.

Marcos is contesting the poll results in 39,221 clustered precincts which the Commission on Elections said are composed of 132,446 precincts. Robredo’s counter-protest covers 8,042 clustered precincts composed of 31,278 precincts.  

Garcia said he would attend the preliminary conference on the case on Tuesday afternoon.

During the preliminary conference, lawyers for Marcos and Robredo are expected to discuss the issues to be resolved, the list of witnesses, and the evidence to be presented, as well as the schedule of hearings and the revision of the ballots.

Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, Marcos joined his supporters calling for a recount in an overnight vigil outside the high court premises.  

The preliminary conference was supposed to be held on June 21 but it was reset to Tuesday to give way to the hearing and resolution of consolidated petitions that sought to invalidate President Rodrigo Duterte’s imposition of martial law in Mindanao. — MDM/KVD, GMA News