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Robredo insists on validity of votes on ballot ovals shaded 25%
Vice President Leni Robredo has again tried to convince the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to apply the 25-percent threshold in considering votes valid as the manual vice presidential votes recount between her and rival former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. continues.
Flanked by her lawyers and surrounded by supporters, Robredo personally filed an 11-page urgent motion for reconsideration on Thursday morning, asking the Supreme Court, sitting as the PET, to set aside its April 10 resolution denying her plea for the 25-percent threshold to be applied.
She also wants the PET to "immediately direct the Head Revisors to use the 25-percent threshold percentage used by the Commission on Elections for the 09 May 2016 National and Local Elections in lieu of the 50 percent used in the 10 May 2010 National and Local Elections."
"Ang dahilan po ng manual counting ng votes ay para malaman iyong katotohanan," she told her white-clad supporters, among them former Commission on Human Rights chair Etta Rosales.
"At tayo po, mula sa umpisa, binibigay po natin 'yung ating tiwala sa proseso, sa PET. At 'yun pong tiwalang iyon, 'yun po ang pinanghahawakan natin, na ito 'yung magbibigay sa atin ng katotohanan. "
The granting of this prayer will benefit both her and Marcos, the motion said.
"More importantly, while it is true that the votes of protestee Robredo, as counted by the VCM (Vote-counting Machine), are being systematically decreased, the same is true for the votes of protestant Marcos as well," it explained.
The vice president cited in her motion a supposed communication from the Commission on Election (Comelec) sent to the PET in 2016, informing the Court that while voters are instructed to shade ballot ovals fully, "the shading threshold was set at about 25% of the oval space."
"In other words, when a mark covers at least 25% of the oval, said mark is supposed to be considered a vote by the system," the letter, as quoted in the motion, stated.
This letter, signed by Commissioner Luie Tito Guia and addressed to then Clerk of Court Felipe Anama in response to request by the PET itself, was dated September 6, 2016, almost four months from election day.
An excerpt of the minutes of a Comelec en banc meeting on the same day showed that the commission "resolved to adopt and confirm" Guia's letter.
Robredo argued that this means the PET knew of such a threshold, contrary to its earlier decision saying that it was "not aware" of any such resolution from the Comelec.
Moreover, the motion took exception to the PET's previous resolution describing her claim of a "systematic reduction of her votes" as a "misunderstanding of the revision process."
"However, this situation, the application of the 50-percent threshold percentage, gives the Head Revisors the authority to 'reject' valid votes of protestee Maria Leonor G. Robredo," the motion said.
"With due respect to the Honorable Tribunal, the numbers will confirm the position of protestee Robredo that the application of the 50-percent threshold percentage has resulted to a systematic decrease in her votes."
Sought for comment, Marcos spokesperson Vic Rodriguez accused Robredo of trying to change the recount rules mid-game.
"Leni Robredo cheated her way to the vice presidency and in this ongoing manual recount and judicial revision, she is attempting to cheat the Filipino people again by trying to change the rules in the middle of the game," he said in a message to reporters.
"Robredo should stop accusing the PET of systematically reducing her votes and casting aspersions meant to debase its integrity," he said.
The manual votes recount in the election contest between Robredo and Marcos is currently limited to three pilot provinces chosen by the former senator—Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, covering 5,418 clustered precincts.
The results of the recount in these three provinces will determine whether Marcos' protest challenging Robredo's victory in the 2016 polls will proceed with the remaining 31,047 protested clustered precincts.
Both Robredo and Marcos and their lawyers have also been directed to explain why they should not be cited in contempt for disclosing "sensitive" information about the recount, considering that they have earlier been reminded to refrain from publicly discussing matters pending with the court.
The media is not allowed to cover the recount proceedings inside the Revision Hall at the Supreme Court - Court of Appeals Gymnasium. —KG/KBK, GMA News
