THE Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), on Tuesday, October 15, authorized the release of a committee report on the recount of the 2016 vice presidential votes in three pilot provinces.
The PET also asked defeated candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who filed the complaint, and Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo to comment on the report prepared by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa.
“What happened today is that the case goes on and we will go from strength to strength,” Marcos told reporters, after noting that the development is favorable to him considering that Caguioa had wanted to dismiss his petition.
Robredo, for her part, described the PET order as “magandang balita” (good news), in a separate press conference.
“’Yan naman yung hinihingi natin last week pa para malaman ng publiko kung ano talaga ang nag-transpire doon sa recount, ano talaga ang botong lumabas, at sino talaga ang nagsabi ng katotohanan,” Robredo said.
(That’s what we have been requesting since last week so the public may know what really transpired during the recount, the number of votes, and who has been telling the truth.)
Marcos, during his interview, said he felt robbed of the opportunity to serve the nation in the last three years.
“By conducting the cheating in the election, they robbed the proper vice president who won the election, myself, from the three years of service,” he said.
In reaction, Robredo said Marcos knows who between them is a robber.
“Wala akong fake diplomas. Hindi ako naglalabas ng fake news. Parang, dapat hindi niya kaya yung sabihin kasi between the two of us, alam ko hindi ako yung robber,”
(I don’t have fake diplomas. I don’t release fake news. I feel that he should not have said that because between the two of us, I know that I am not the robber.)
Marcos is seeking to invalidate the victory of Robredo in the 2016 elections, saying there was massive cheating.
Marcos, an independent candidate, lost to Robredo of the Liberal Party by 263,473 votes. Robredo obtained 14,418,817 votes while Marcos got 14,155,344.
Marcos, in his petition filed on June 30, 2016, asked the PET to reopen the ballot boxes in 36,465 clustered precincts including ballot boxes in Cebu, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Samar, Isabela, Pangasinan, Zamboanga and Bukidnon, Marcos' bailwick.
A recount has been conducted in three pilot provinces selected by Marcos, namely, Iloilo, Negros Oriental, and Camarines Sur.
Marcos also requested the tribunal to void the vote results in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan and to have a vote recount in 22 provinces and five highly urbanized cities in the country. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)