Binay asks PET to junk Roxas’ 2010 poll protest

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Jejomar Binay has sought the dismissal of the election protest filed by former interior secretary Mar Roxas in their 2010 poll face-off.

In a 19-page submission last Monday, Binay asked the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to junk the election protest, saying Roxas has abandoned the case.

Binay lawyers led by Sandra Coronel argued that Roxas appeared to be no longer interested in pursuing the case after he failed to pay the required P166.635-million filing fee.

They also cited Roxas’ inaction on his earlier plea for forensic examination and random manual audit of ballots, which the Binay camp branded as a “self-serving fishing expedition” not provided under PET rules.

“(Binay) thus submits that (Roxas’) manifest lack of interest and inexcusable inaction in prosecuting the protest amounts to abandonment, which deserves a similar dismissal in order for the Honorable Tribunal to finally address the paramount need of dispelling once and for all the uncertainty that beclouds the real choice of the electorate,” read the pleading obtained by reporters yesterday.

The Binay lawyers pointed out that it has been five years since Roxas sought the conduct of forensic examination during a preliminary conference on the case but that the latter has since not even filed a motion for resolution of his plea.

“What (Roxas) has done is to cast doubt upon the credibility of the elections based on his surmises and conjectures, which are also trumpeted in media, that the AES (automated election system) was not reliable and that its integrity has been compromised,” they stressed.

The lawyers cited several Supreme Court rulings, which showed that poll protests were dismissed on the ground of inaction or failure to prosecute the cases.

Binay’s camp had wanted the PET, which is composed of all 15 Supreme Court justices sitting as a tribunal, to resolve the case based on merits.

Binay and Roxas are set to again face off in the presidential race in May 2016.

If unresolved before the filing of certificate of candidacy next week, the protest of Roxas is expected to be automatically dismissed under the rules of PET.