Robredo to PET: Junk Bongbong Marcos' appeal on poll protest dismissal

Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday asked the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to junk the appeal of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to set aside the decision dismissing his 2016 election protest.

Robredo, through her lawyers, told the tribunal that Marcos’ motion for reconsideration lacks merit.

TINGNAN: Mga abogado ni Vice Pres. Leni Robredo sa pangunguna ni Atty. Romulo Macalintal, inihain na sa Korte Suprema ang komento ng bise presidente kaugnay sa motion for reconsideration na isinumite ni dating Sen. Bongbong Marcos. @dzbb pic.twitter.com/FFmSePY3fK

— Isa Avendaño-Umali (@Isa_Umali) July 2, 2021

In his appeal, the former senator insisted his third cause of action — the annulment of 2016 election results for vice president in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao — could proceed independently from the manual recount and judicial revision.

Marcos urged the PET, which is composed of all justices of the Supreme Court, to proceed with the presentation of evidence.

He alleged that the tribunal did not give him an opportunity to present his evidence for the annulment of poll results in the three provinces on the grounds of terrorism, violence, intimidation, substitution of voters, and pre-shading of ballots allegedly in favor of Robredo.

Robredo countered that the PET did not err in dismissing the protest, citing the tribunal’s unanimous decision last February 16 that Marcos had failed to prove his allegations of irregularities and was not able to show substantial recovery following the recount of votes in the three pilot provinces (Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental).

Under Rule 65 of the 2010 PET Rules, the tribunal may dismiss an election protest if it is convinced that the protestant or counter-protestant will "most probably fail to make out his case" on the basis of the pilot recount.

“The choice of pilot provinces was made by protestant Marcos himself. It was a personal choice. Nobody dictated upon him to choose them,” Robredo’s comment stated.

“Now that he was proven wrong, protestant Marcos now wants to change the rules so he can keep fanning the flames on his unsubstantiated allegations,” she said.

Robredo said Marcos “has no one to blame but himself” for the dismissal of his election protest.

“In the end, protestant Marcos needs to concede and accept his defeat with grace,” she said. —KBK, GMA News