Bongbong Marcos: PET committed grave error in allowing Robredo to secure copies of ballot images

Former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has asked the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to reconsider its decision allowing Vice President Leni Robredo to secure copies of the ballot images in connection with the recount regarding the results of the May 2016 elections.

"With all due respect, this Honorable Tribunal committed a grave error when it allowed Robredo to secure copies of the ballot images, election returns, audit logs and other relevant documents which were generated during the decryption," Marcos said in a partial motion for reconsideration dated December 4.

No reason was given by the PET why it granted on November 7 Robredo’s request to be furnished soft copies of the ballots and reports from the decrypted secure digital (SD) cards from the provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, the three pilot provinces designated by Marcos for his election protest.

Marcos maintained that Robredo did not contribute any share in the expenses and supplies, thus she should not be allowed by the PET to obtain the soft and even printed copies of the decrypted images of the ballots, election returns, audit logs and other relevant documents for all the protested clustered precincts of the pilot provinces.

It was Marcos who paid for the cost of decryption and printing of ballot images from the pilot provinces amounting to P2,974,075.

"With all due respect, since protestee Robredo did not contribute any share in the expenses and supplies for this undertaking, it is unfair, unjust and inequitable that she was allowed by this Honorable Tribunal to obtain soft copies of the decrypted images of the ballots, election returns, audit logs and other relevant documents for the pilot protest," the motion stated.

Marcos said Robredo must also shoulder the expenses for the decryption process.

"Free-riding should not be countenanced by this Honorable Tribunal," the motion read.

Robredo's camp, in response, said Marcos should avoid filing motions that only lengthen the proceedings.

"By doing this, they have no one to blame but themselves for any delay," Robredo’s legal counsel, Romulo Macalintal, said in a statement.

"Like in any other case, both camps are given copies of all documents. This is the standard practice in the spirit of transparency and fairness," Macalintal added.

Macalintal said Robredo will give Marcos copies of reports if she will ask for decryption.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in last year’s election which the former senator claimed was marred by fraud. — RSJ, GMA News