Marcos asks PET to review initial poll recount, move on to 3 Mindanao provinces
MANILA, Philippines — Defeated vice presidential bet and former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. appealed to the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to review the results of the poll recount in connection to his electoral protest.
In a memorandum submitted to the PET, Marcos asked the tribunal to "reconsider, review and re-examine" the results of the revision and appreciation in the three pilot provinces Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.
Marcos himself identified the three pilot provinces for the recount in his electoral protest challenging the victory of Vice President Leni Robredo in the May 2016 national elections.
Technical examination in three new provinces
The losing vice presidential bet also appealed to the tribunal to proceed to his third cause of action to conduct the technical examination on three new provinces Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan.
Marcos wants the PET to compare the voters' signatures on the election day computerized voter's list as opposed to the voters registration records in each of the 2,756 clustered precincts in the three Mindanao provinces.
The former senator asked the tribunal to conduct another preliminary conference for his third cause of action and to proceed with the presentation of evidence.
In 2017, the PET junked Marcos' first cause of action questioning the automated election system.
Marcos' second cause of action in his protest was the revision, or recount, of ballots in the three pilot provinces.
Robredo's lawyers last year brought up Rule 65 of the PET Rules, which states that a protestant can be ordered to pick at most three provinces "best exemplifying the frauds or irregularities alleged in his petition."
When the pilot provinces are identified, the revision or recount can begin.
"If upon examination of such ballots and proof, and after making reasonable allowances into account, the protestant or counter-protestant will most probably fail to make out his case, the protest may forthwith be dismissed, without further consideration of other provinces mentioned in the protest," the rule reads.
Robredo's lawyers claimed her lead grew by around 15,000 votes after the initial recount in the provinces of Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
- Latest
- Trending
