Bongbong ‘ill-advised’ regarding missing audit logs claim —Leni’s lawyer

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, lawyer for Vice President Leni Robredo, on Tuesday said former Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. was "ill-advised" on his claim that "missing" audit logs proved anomalies in the 2016 national elections.

"Si Mr. Marcos was ill-advised. Hindi siya nabigyan ng tamang impormasyon ng kanyang mga advisers, or hindi rin alam ng mga advisers niya ang patakaran na ang audit log, hindi inilalagay sa ballot box," Macalintal said on Unang Balita.

"'Yan ay isina-submit ng mga... election officers matapos ang pagbilang ng mga balota," he added. "Lalong may anomalya 'pag nandu'n ang audit log sa loob ng ballot box."

The son of the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. alleged that wet, "illegible" ballots and "missing" clustered precinct audit logs were found in areas he selected for the manual ballot recount.

He claimed ballot boxes were opened to take the audit logs — records of the time votes were fed to vote-counting machines — from a municipality in Camarines Sur, where wet ballots were also found.

"Si Mr. Marcos ay nabigyan siya ng fake news, fake advice, or maling advice ng kanyang mga advisers sa bagay na 'yan," Macalintal said, adding that they only need to take the logs from election officers for audit purposes.

Macalintal earlier said that missing audit logs and wet ballots were "only technical defects" that did not affect the accuracy of the vote count.

"Walang kakwenta-kwenta 'yang balitang 'yan, Mr. Marcos, dahil 'yang pagiging basa ng balota, alam 'yan ng kanyang mga representatives nu'ng kinuha 'yung mga ballot boxes," he explained on Unang Balita.

"Kasi nung kinuha 'yan, bumabagyo dun sa Camarines Sur, du'n sa lugar na kung saan ay nakuha. At ang iba diyan ay nasa gymnasium lamang na kung malakas ang ulan ay mababasa 'yan," Macalintal continued.

He said Marcos can have the results of the wet ballots reprinted from ballot images taken when the ballots were inserted into the vote-counting machines in accordance with election protocols.

"Kung ito lamang ang magiging basis ng kanyang election process ay tiyak na madi-dismiss 'yan," Macalintal said, noting that there was no truth to claims that ballot images did not resemble the wet ballots before they were drenched in water.

Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, legal counsel of Marcos, on Tuesday said the camp of Robredo is downplaying the significance of wet ballots found at the start of the manual vote recount.

"We expect them to say na hindi big deal iyon because definitely, unfavorable sa positioning nila 'yung integridad ng mga ballot boxes as well as nu'ng mga balota itself ay intact," Rodriguez on Tuesday said in an interview on Unang Balita.

A manual recount for the electoral protest of Marcos was started by the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), on Monday.

The recount covers 5,418 clustered precincts in three pilot provinces chosen by Marcos: Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

It is estimated to take an entire year for all three provinces to be completely audited.

Marcos filed an electoral protest a day before Robredo took office due to alleged "electoral frauds, anomalies and irregularities."

Robredo on Monday assured her supporters that there is nothing to fear as the manual recount of ballots will affirm her victory in the 2016 national elections.

Macalintal staked his license on Robredo's success in the recount case.

Robredo won against Marcos by 263,473 votes in the May 2016 elections. —Rie Takumi/KG, GMA News