Robredo camp: 'Weak' poll protest to blame for delay in case

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo's lawyer on Thursday said Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should attribute supposed delays in his poll protest on the "weak" election case he filed against the vice president.

 

"If Marcos only filed a strong and meritorious election protest with full compliance with the rules on the substance or evidence to be alleged in the complaint, we would not have any ground to question his apparent haphazardly prepared election protest," lawyer Romulo Macalintal said in a statement.

 

Macalintal said that one requirement for filing an electoral protest is stating detailed allegations of electoral fraud.

 

Macalintal said that Marcos made detailed allegations in only 57 of the 662 municipalities he is protesting. The lawyer said that the protests in those municipalities should be the only ones given due course while the rest should be dismissed.

 

Earlier this month, the former senator, in his reply to Robredo's opposition of his motion for the preliminary conference on the case, accused the vice president of delaying the electoral protest.

 

"If protestee Robredo has nothing to hide, why does she keep trying to delay the proceedings? What is there to fear about a simple Preliminary Conference?" Marcos said.

 

Robredo, in an interview with dzMM on Tuesday, denied the accusation, saying a recount would be in her favor since that will resolve doubts on her mandate.

 

"Because until the issue is resolved, it would only give Marcos’ supporters the right to claim that he’s the real vice president," Robredo said.

 

READ: Leni denies stalling Marcos poll protest

 

Macalintal stressed that the Robredo camp wants a swift resolution of the poll protest.

 

"As a matter of fact, we also look forward to the early resolution of our motion to dismiss the protest on the said 662 municipalities, which is clearly insufficient in form and substance," Macalintal said.