SC disenfranchising votes by not dismissing Bongbong electoral protest —group

The Supreme Court—sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET)—is disenfranchising voters, if not suppressing votes, while it sits on the dismissal of the poll protest lodged by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo, multi-sectoral group Mamamayang Liberal said Thursday.

Mamamayang Liberal, which describes itself as a representative of the youth, farmers, women’s groups, workers, and professionals, made the comments in its letter to PET asking the High Court to junk Marcos’s protest.

The group said that the manual recount of votes in three provinces chosen by Marcos—which actually increased Robredo’s lead by 15,000 votes

“We humbly appeal to the Magistrates to protect the integrity of the High Tribunal and prove its independence by upholding Rule 65 of the PET. Rule 65 clearly states that Marcos’ petition must be dismissed outright if he fails to gain substantial recovery from the recount of votes in the pilot provinces that he identified,” the group said.

“If the PET fails to implement the law, the High Court will be on the wrong side of history as the one behind the massive disenfranchisement of votes and the suppression of the people’s freedom to choose their leaders,” it added.

Robredo defeated Marcos in the 2016 Vice Presidential race by 263,473 votes.

After Marcos failed to gather substantial recovery of votes in the manual recount, the PET—on two occasions—asked both camps, as well as the Commission on Elections and the Office of the Solicitor General, to comment on Marcos’ bid to annul the votes in three provinces in Bangsamoro Region due to supposed poll fraud.

The Outstanding Women In The Nation's Service (TOWNS) Foundation and opposition coalition Tindig Pilipinas have also called for dismissal of Marcos’s poll protest, saying that Robredo won the 2016 Vice Presidential race fair and square. — BM, GMA News