Robredo to comply with PET order to pay for counter-protest, says lawyer

The lead counsel of Vice President Leni Robredo said they will comply with the order of the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to already settle required fees for her counter-protest in the ongoing electoral case filed by former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal said they respect the decision of the tribunal, which dismissed her plea to defer the payment.

The PET ordered Robredo to pay the initial cash deposit within five days from notice.

"(We) would like to reiterate Vice President Leni Robredo's willingness to comply with her obligation to pay the P8 million for her counter protest," Macalintal said in a statement.

Robredo has to pay a total of P15 million for her counter-protest, where she is questioning the results in 8,042 clustered precincts, composed of 31,278 established precincts.

Through her lawyers, she earlier asked the tribunal to "hold in abeyance" the required payment until the “legitimacy of the merits” of Marcos’ protest has been established.

Her camp also asked the PET to "clarify" the fees that Marcos must pay, asserting that he must settle a total of P185 million, because he questioned the "integrity" of the automated election system as a whole.

The former senator, who lost to Robredo by just over 200,000 votes, was able to pay the initial P36 million for his protest last April 17.

His camp has since filed a motion seeking for the dismissal of Robredo's counter-protest, citing her "failure" to pay as required.

The tribunal, however, deferred action on Marcos' motion "until Robredo complies with the directive to pay the deposit," Supreme Court spokesman Ted Te said.

The tribunal required Marcos and Robredo to raise a total of P81.46 million, which will be used for the retrieval of contested ballot boxes and election documents from contested precincts.

Of this amount, determined at P500 per established precinct, P66 million must come from Marcos, who is seeking a recount for more than 36,000 clustered precincts and the nullity of results in nearly 3,000 others.

The payment would be done in two tranches. — RSJ, GMA News