Roxas silent on plan to file electoral protest

MANILA, Philippines - Defeated vice-presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II has opted to remain silent on his plan to file an electoral protest against Vice President Jejomar Binay before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

Interviewed at the Liberal Party (LP) headquarters at the Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City yesterday, Roxas said he would focus on getting LP Sen. Francis Pangilinan elected as Senate president.

The LP formally announced its selection of Pangilinan as its bet for Senate president yesterday.

Roxas, LP president, said he would help Pangilinan in getting the support of the other senators.

“We will follow whatever is the order of the party,” he said.

“As an emissary, if I am asked by the party (to help out), I would be glad to talk (to the other senators).

“We cannot be complacent. We need more consensus building, coalition building to get 13 (votes).”

Meanwhile, Roxas said President Aquino, LP chairman, gave his blessings for him to file the protest.

“This was discussed a long time ago,” he said.

“Let’s just wait for this to take place. I have left this with my lawyers.”

Joey Tenefrancia, one of Roxas’s lawyers, said the protest would basically focus on the three million null votes, which the precinct count optical scan machines did not recognize.

After the final tally of the National Board of Canvassers, Binay was proclaimed the vice president with a 700,000-vote lead over Roxas.

The Roxas camp believes many of the null votes were in favor of Roxas.