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PET junks Bongbong Marcos motion to get Leonen out of poll protest


Former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has lost his bid to get Associate Justice Marvic Leonen out of his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo before the Supreme Court.

The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, denied Marcos and Calida's motions seeking Leonen's inhibition from proceedings in the four-year-old case.

The SC Public Information Office confirmed the development on Tuesday afternoon.

Marcos and Calida had both accused Leonen of being biased against the Marcos family.

This is the second time Marcos' allegations of bias failed to convince the tribunal to re-raffle the protest. In 2018, the PET similarly dismissed Marcos' motion for the inhibition of then-member-in-charge Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.

The PET at the time warned Marcos and his lawyers that "any unfounded and inappropriate accusation made in the future will be dealt with more severely."

In their en banc session on Tuesday, the PET also ordered Calida to explain why he should not be cited in contempt for filing a motion for Leonen's inhibition.

Calida's Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) likewise accused Leonen of bias and moved for his recusal on the same day Marcos filed his motion.

The Robredo camp said it considers this an act of collusion. Marcos denied he and Calida even discussed the case.

Manila Times journalist Jomar Canlas, whose reports both Marcos and Calida cited in their motions, was also ordered to show cause why he should not be cited in contempt.

Alleging fraud, Marcos is challenging Robredo's victory in the 2016 elections. Robredo's term ends in 2022. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News

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