Palace tells FPJ: Let’s work for unity

Malacañang renewed its appeals yesterday to defeated presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and running mate, former senator Loren Legarda, for them to accept President Arroyo’s offer of unity and reconciliation.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye Jr. reiterated the offer after the two losing candidates filed separate electoral protests before the Supreme Court as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) on Friday seeking a recount of the May 10 election results.

Bunye expressed confidence that the administration stands on solid ground with its belief that Mrs. Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro got the clear mandate in the elections.

"In the end, this (electoral) protest (before the PET) will be resolved in favor of the President and Vice President," Bunye said.

"But we reiterate our offer of unity and reconciliation to all the opponents of our President. That is more important if we want to push faster the progress of our nation," Bunye said.

Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Michael Defensor, who served as campaign spokesman for Mrs. Arroyo, also welcomed the filing of the electoral protest by the two opposition leaders.

Defensor called on Poe and Legarda against bringing their case to the streets while the case is pending.

"We just hope that they (Poe and Legarda) will respect the legal processes and not create instability now that they have deferred to the legal jurisdiction of the PET," he said.

Defensor told The STAR yesterday that unity and reconciliation attempts offered by Mrs. Arroyo’s personal emissaries to Poe and Legarda have been repeatedly turned down by the two.

Defensor added he had done his part of reaching out to his former colleague, Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero who served as Poe’s campaign spokesman. "Masyado pa rin mainit," he remarked.

On the other hand, Bunye said he was glad Poe and Legarda chose the legal and proper forum to contest the elections.

"We welcome their protest in the spirit and in the interest of fair play," he said.

Poe, who lost to Mrs. Arroyo by more than 1.1 million votes, had accused the President of committing "massive and widespread electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities in flagrant violation of electoral laws."

Legarda filed a separate petition before the PET accusing the administration and its allies of manipulating the election returns to make it appear De Castro won the vice presidential race.

Both candidates of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) have filed the separate petitions in the PET with three days left before deadline.

Administration lawmakers have belittled Poe and Legarda in filing their electoral protest.

Among them, Lanao del Norte Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo, said the electoral petitions filed by the two KNP candidates "was nothing but annoyance in the governance" of Mrs. Arroyo.

He said the actor and his running mate should not have filed the protests since the winning margin is wide. "Therefore, it is improper for them to contest the final and official result of the just-concluded May 10 elections," Dimaporo said in a statement.

Legarda earlier claimed they filed the petitions in response to the call of their supporters who also volunteered to finance the filing of the electoral protests.

She said KNP also made the consensus to file the electoral case before the PET.

"We know it is difficult, costly and will take too much time but we have to do it for the truth to come out and in the interest of our supporters... who put their faith and trust in us," Legarda said.

She said it is her obligation and duty to fight for the millions of people who have supported her and Poe and bring out "the truth."

Not That Easy

Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan said the filing of the electoral protest does not mean the recounting will be immediately conducted.

Khan pointed out yesterday that the process may be longer and exhaustive, aside from being financially draining.

Ideally, Khan said, election protests filed before the PET can be resolved in one year.

But the process is not that easy since there are "clear cut rules" to be followed and "well-defined time frames" set to decide on the substance of the election protest, he explained.

Khan emphasized the magistrates comprising the electoral tribunal will have to determine if the complaint has sufficient grounds or basis.

"The delays will normally come from the parties themselves," he said. "Theoretically, everything can be finished within a year. However, it is the right of the parties to file several motions. They can ask for postponements of hearings, for example, and that will obviously prolong the process," Khan said.

"If the parties will keep to the given procedures and adhere to the rules, then the protests can be resolved sooner," he said.

Under the Constitution, the Supreme Court sitting en banc shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President and Vice President and may promulgate its rules for the purpose.

The PET has to determine first of the petitions were sufficient "in form and substance." Otherwise, the petitions can be dismissed outright.

The petitioners will also have to pay the corresponding filing fees and the costs of the revision of ballots and election returns.

So far, the case of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago against former President Fidel Ramos in the 1992 elections had been the precedent in the PET.

Santiago reportedly spent around P7 million for her petition which was deliberated by the PET for three years.

When Santiago was elected senator in 1995, the Supreme Court immediately dismissed her petition against Ramos, ruliing she had abandoned her cause when she ran for the Senate.

Based on PET rules, the petition is deemed filed once the filing of P50,000 have been paid. If a claim for damages or attorney’s fees is included in the petition, an additional filing fee is also required to be paid.

A cash deposit is also required in different amounts. If the protest does not require the delivery to the PET of the contested ballot boxes and other election documents, the cash deposit is P10,000.

Since Poe and Legarda have called on the PET to direct Congress to deliver the contested ballot boxes and election returns for recounting, they will have to pay P500 for each ballot box.

Poe, through his lawyer Sixto Brillantes, wanted a recount of the results of 118, 339 polling precincts. He said the results of 10,554 precincts were erroneously reflected in the certificates of canvass (COCs) used in the counting by Congress.

Legarda, for her part, wanted a recount of 124,404 precincts which she claimed, its results were erroneously counted in favor of De Castro.

Both Poe and Legarda had claimed the election returns forwarded to Congress were manipulated –the reason why administration lawmakers refused to open them for scrutiny during the canvassing.

They also protested the results of the final canvass of the overseas absentee voting in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia and the local absentee voting.

The two also accused Mrs. Arroyo’s political camp of resorting to massive vote-buying and use of government funds.

Poe, for his part, called on the PET to strip Mrs. Arroyo of office and declare him as the "duly elected and rightful holder of the said exalted" position.

Opposition lawyers added that with the filing of the electoral protest, Mrs. Arroyo and De Castro will become "presumptive president and vice president," respectively.

The PET rules said that if the allegations in a protest or counter protest so warrant or whenever in its opinion the interest of justice so demands, the PET shall immediately order the delivery of all the contested election documents.

The PET will create a number of teams that will make the necessary review of the election documents which are being contested.