THE camp of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo welcomed the Presidential Electoral Tribunal’s (PET) resolution to finally schedule the preliminary conference for the electoral protest filed by her losing rival in the 2016 polls former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.
The Supreme Court, sitting as PET, has set the conference on June 21 at 2 p.m.
According to Robredo's legal counsel Romulo Macalintal, they are ready for the preliminary conference as he expressed confidence that the protest of Marcos will be dismissed.
"We continue to have faith in the integrity of the justice system and believe that the truth will prevail. The pre-trial will expose the weakness and insufficiency in form and substance of the Marcos protest," said Macalintal.
The preliminary conference will enable the two parties to be heard for immediate disposition of the case.
On April 12, the SC ordered both Marcos and Robredo to shoulder the costs of their electoral protests, amounting to P66,223,000 and P15,439,000, respectively.
Marcos was able to raise an initial cash deposit of P35 million while Robredo filed a motion to extend the deadline for her payment.
But on Tuesday, PET ordered Robredo to pay the downpayment of P8 million needed for her counter-protest against Marcos.
Robredo defeated Marcos in last year's vice presidential election with a thin margin of more than 200,000 votes. (SunStar Philippines)