Marcos seeks vote review; Robredo wants case junked
THE son of the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos has asked the Supreme Court to re-examine its vote recount for the 2016 vice presidential race after the results increased his rival’s lead.
In a 595-page memorandum dated Dec. 19, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. said the court had erred in rejecting his objections for lack of evidence.
Mr. Marcos said the parties had not been given the chance to present their evidence. He also asked the tribunal to annul votes in three Mindanao provinces where massive cheating also allegedly occurred.
“It is unfair on the part of protestant Marcos that his objections against ballots for protestee Robredo were overruled by the preliminary appreciation committee for lack of evidence,” he said.
Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo in a separate Dec. 19 memo asked the tribunal to dismiss the election protest after Mr. Marcos allegedly failed to prove cheating in three pilot provinces he had identified.
In a 215-page memorandum, Ms. Robredo said the rules call for the dismissal of the protest once Mr. Marcos fails to make out his case.
Both parties released their pleadings yesterday.
The court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, said that after the ballot recount in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, Ms. Robredo’s lead increased by 15,000 to 278,566.
The court also ordered the parties to comment on the recount results before it decides on whether to allow a recount in 27 other provinces.
“In turn, as can be glaringly seen, the result of the revision, recount and re-appreciation of the ballots showed that protestant Marcos failed to establish any substantial recovery,” Ms. Robredo said in her pleading.
“The revision, recount and re-appreciation of ballots merely confirmed that protestant Marcos lost during the May 9, 2016 National and Local Elections,” she said.
Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa and retired Justice Antonio T. Carpio sided with Ms. Robredo in the Oct. 15 ruling, saying the case should have been dismissed.
Mr. Marcos filed his protest in June 2016 after narrowly losing to Ms. Robredo. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
