'TAPUSIN NA NATIN ITO'

PET order will help fast-track resolution of Bongbong poll case —Robredo camp

The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday said the latest order from the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) will fast-track the resolution of the poll protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos.

"The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo welcomes the latest PET order as this will help fast-track the resolution of the election protest," said lawyer Beng Sardillo, Robredo's counsel, in a statement.

"We will comply with the High Tribunal’s order and wait for the comments of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Solicitor General on the pending matters," Sardillo added.

The PET has ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) to comment on issues related to the annulment of elections, in connection with the Marcos protest's third cause of action — the annulment of election results in three Mindanao provinces due to alleged fraud and terrorism.

Sardillo expressed confidence that the PET will uphold Robredo's victory, as seen in the 2016 elections and in the recount of ballots from three pilot provinces that Marcos chose. After the recount, Robredo's lead over Marcos increased by more than 15,000 votes.

"Dalawang beses nang nanalo sa bilang si VP Leni. Matagal nang tapos ang boksing. Matagal nang talo si Marcos. Tapusin na natin ito," Sardillo said.

The lawyer also pointed out the rules in different electoral tribunals mandate the "immediate dismissal of any election protest after finding no substantial recovery."

Robredo's camp and two Supreme Court justices are of the opinion that Marcos' protest should have been dismissed when he failed to establish a "substantial recovery" of votes in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, the provinces that he said saw election fraud.

However, citing due process, a majority of the PET ruled to first order the parties to submit their positions on Marcos' third cause of action, which is the annulment of election results in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao on the ground of alleged terrorism, intimidation, voter harassment, and pre-shading of ballots.

Then-Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio warned last October against the PET changing its rules to accommodate a party whom he said failed to comply with a requirement in the tribunal's own rules.

Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa, who was the only other justice to opine that the protest should have been dismissed, said that numbers do not lie. —KBK, GMA News