Martial Law victims decry Bongbong's bid to have Leonen recuse from poll protest case

Victims of human rights violations during the dictatorship of the late President Ferdinand Marcos condemned the move of Marcos’ son and namesake, former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr., seeking to prevent a Supreme Court justice from deciding on his poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo

The Martial Law victims said Marcos' move is malicious and baseless. 

The Samahan ng Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at Aresto (SELDA) was referring to Marcos’ move on Monday asking SC Associate Justice Marvic Leonen to recuse from participating in court deliberations on his poll protest against Robredo. Marcos said Leonen prejudged the case, citing the justice's dissent in the SC ruling allowing a hero's burial for Marcos' late father. 

“We in SELDA, an organization of former political prisoners including martial law victims/survivors, call on the Supreme Court to junk Bongbong’s petition as we hope that truth will prevail in this case. This petition of Bongbong Marcos shows the classic intolerance of dissent of the Marcoses. It is malicious, it is baseless, it is Marcosian,” SELDA said.

“These acts are desperate stunts of a sore loser and a spoiled brat. Vice President Leni Robredo won over Bongbong Marcos in the 2016 elections because the people see through the historical lies and schemes of the Marcoses to politically rehabilitate their bloody record of injustices they committed,” SELDA added.

Akbayan chairperson emeritus and former Commission on Human Rights chairperson Etta Rosales, for her part, called on Marcos to instead help his family deal with ill-gotten wealth and other pending cases.

"Family first, Bongbong. Pag-aksayahan mo ng oras ang pagharap ng pamilya mo sa mga kasong pagnanakaw at pag-abuso sa kapangyarihan," said Rosales, also one of the victims of human rights violations during Martial Law.

"Just move on. The seat of the Vice-President has no space for sore losers and plunderers without remorse as the Filipino people have already decided," Rosales added.

Kaya Natin Movement, a group advocating for good governance, echoed the call by saying that there is no need to give a platform to Marcos to play politics. 

“We call on the Marcoses to stop their desperate attempts to rewrite history. If there is any ounce of genuine interest to forward the welfare of Filipinos left in them, it is high time they put a stop to the lies they propagate and atone for the atrocities they committed against us,” Kaya Natin said. 

“Power grabbing and political opportunism should have no place in our country. His protest must be dismissed altogether. The election results are clear: Vice President Leni Robredo has the mandate of the people,” Kaya Natin added.

In closing, Kaya Natin said the SC should respect the Filipino people’s decision by upholding Robredo’s victory and dismissing Marcos’ call to remove Leonen.

“We call on all Filipinos to remain vigilant against attempts at subverting the will of the people. Our fight for truth and justice continues,” Kaya Natin added.

The Office of the Solicitor General led by Jose Calida on Monday also moved for the recusal of Leonen in the electoral protest case.

Marcos however claimed he and Calida were not in discussions about the election protest.

The vice president's camp on Monday said Marcos should stop acting like a spoiled brat in pursuing his poll protest.

Robredo on Monday night laughed off Calida's move.

In the vice presidential race in 2016, Robredo beat Marcos by 263,473 votes.

Marcos contested his defeat before the Supreme Court, and the manual count in three pilot provinces showed Robredo ahead of Marcos by 15,000 votes. 

In the aftermath of his loss in the manual recount, Marcos now wants to annul 2016 poll results in Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao. 

Rule 65 of the Supreme Court sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal provides that the one who filed a poll protest—in this case Marcos—should have a significant recovery of votes in at least three pilot provinces of his or her own choosing before the poll protest could proceed. Otherwise, such protest should be dismissed. —KG, GMA News