Marcos camp: If Leni gained votes from manual recount, it must have come from poll fraud

The camp of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday said he doubts if Vice President Leni Robredo indeed gained votes from the manual recount in three pilot provinces.

But if ever she did, Marcos claimed the additional votes would have certainly been the product of poll fraud.

Lawyer George Garcia, counsel for Marcos, made the pronouncement a day after the Supreme Court—sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET)—ordered the release of the report on the manual recount of votes chosen by Marcos.

The same ruling also asked both the camps of Robredo and Marcos to file a comment on Marcos’ motion to nullify the results in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao.

“Nadagdagan ng boto, sabi nila, but that is presumption, wala pang nilalabas na result ang tribunal,” Garcia said.

Then again, Garcia added, “what we were saying, even if there was an increase on [the] part of Leni camp, take note there was increase so meaning the machines did not function properly, that is the irregularity and fraud.”

Likewise, Garcia argued that even without substantial vote recovery in three pilot provinces, Marcos’ protest can proceed because seeking a manual recount and his bid for vote nullification in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao are two different courses of action.

“Sige, idismiss nila ang second cause of action [na manual recount on pilot provinces] but it doesn’t mean that it is the dismissal of the entire election protest,” Garcia said.

But for poll lawyer Emil Marañon who serves as Robredo's legal consultant, the PET has already long decided—in its ruling dated August 2017 and upheld in November 2017—that it cannot discuss the merits of Marcos’ bid to nullify results in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao unless Marcos scores a substantial recovery of votes in three pilot provinces.

“The camp of Marcos moved twice [to include three additional provinces], [pero] sabi ng PET i-hurdle nito muna yung Rule 65, which is to show the substantial recovery then we will talk about annulment,” Marañon added.

Marañon was referring to PET’s November 2017 ruling on Marcos’ poll protest vs. Robredo which states: “Thus, in consonance with Rule 65, the Tribunal hereby orders that the retrieval of ballot boxes and other election documents, revision of ballots and reception of evidence can already begin with, but shall first be confined to, only the provinces that have been designated by protestant, namely, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental."

"It is premature to retrieve the ballot boxes and conduct a technical examination on voters' signatures from provinces other than those designated to be the pilot provinces,” the ruling added.

The PET also ruled that: "As already stated, Rule 65 allows the Tribunal to conduct the revision of ballots and reception of evidence on the designated pilot provinces first, and on such basis, decide if it will proceed with the revision of ballots and reception of evidence on the other contested provinces in the protest."

The same November 2017 ruling also provides that hinging Marcos’ protest on substantial recovery of votes under Rule 65 of PET rules is “the practical resolution of this matter at this stage given the physical and logistical constraints already facing the Tribunal as regards having to retrieve, store and safeguard all the 5,418 ballot boxes pertaining to the pilot provinces.”

“In other words, judicial economy likewise commands the Tribunal to defer action on these matters until such time that the Tribunal has made its initial determination of the grounds for the Protest under Rule 65 of the 2010 PET Rules,” the PET added. — MDM, GMA News