Robredo lawyer urges Marcos camp to refrain from filing dilatory motions

MANILA, Philippines — Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a defeated vice presidential candidate in last year's national elections, should refrain from filing motions that would only lengthen his electoral protest against Leni Robredo, one of the vice president's lawyers said on Monday.

According to Macalintal, Marcos and his lawyers should blame themselves for any delay as the motion they recently filed would be detrimental to the speedy resolution of his case.

“By doing this, they have no one to blame but themselves for any delay,” Macalintal said.

Marcos' lawyers filed a motion for reconsideration before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal questioning its Nov. 7, 2017 decision allowing Robredo to secure copies of ballot images in the recount sought by the former senator regarding the results of the May 2016 elections.

The tribunal, in a decision, approved the urgent ex-parte motion filed by Robredo's lawyers on October 23 asking the body to furnish her soft copies of the ballot images and reports from the decrypted SD cards from Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, the three pilot provinces for the recount Marcos is seeking.

Macalintal said the said copies would allow the vice president to protect her rights and interests in the electoral protest.

Marcos, the son of the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos who committed massive human rights violations and corruption during his more than two decades in office, strongly opposed providing the vice president with soft copies of the election documents.

He argued that since he "paid solely for them" for P2,974,075 Robredo should not be allowed to secure both printed and soft copies of the ballot images, election results, audit logs and other relevant documents.

The former senator insisted that since the ongoing decryption activity was initiated by him Robredo's request should be denied.

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However, Macalintal, the vice president's lawyer, stressed that the soft copies would help both parties protect their rights.

“Like in any other case, both camps are given copies of all documents. This is the standard practice in the spirit of transparency and fairness,” said Macalintal.

The PET's decision would pave the way for the vice president to coordinate with the Commission on Elections on the procedure and supplies needed to for the soft copies. The electoral body earlier said that it was capable of providing the soft copies to both parties.

Robredo also assured Marcos that she would provide him with copies of reports should she ask for decryption.

Marcos accused Robredo of electoral fraud after his well-financed campaign lost to the former Camarines Sur representative by a slim margin of about 260,000 votes.

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