Don’t blame me, Noli tells Loren

The camp of Vice President Noli de Castro yesterday lashed out at former senator Loren Legarda for blaming De Castro for the delays in the resolution of her election protests.

"It was VP De Castro who filed the motion for partial determination of the election protest based on the results of the revision of the ballots from Cebu and the re-canvass of election returns of Lanao del Sur precisely to expedite the proceedings instead of waiting for the revision of all the ballots from Legarda’s other pilot provinces," De Castro lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Armando Marcelo said in a joint statement.

"The false accusations of Legarda after the preliminary conference last Aug. 28 confirmed what we have been suspecting all along, that this case is but a ‘road show’ or mere publicity to put a cloud of doubt on the election of Vice President De Castro," the statement said.

"This should put the public on guard when Legarda comes out with her supposed evidence of electoral fraud."

Macalintal explained that Legarda’s failure to recover substantial votes in Cebu and Lanao del Sur might be enough reason to justify the dismissal of the election protest.

De Castro’s lawyers filed a motion for reconsideration with respect to the rule that the Supreme Court shall be the sole judge of election protest involving the positions of the president and vice president.