PET issues gag order on Leni Robredo, Bongbong Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has imposed a gag order on Vice President Leni Robredo and former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in connection with their pending electoral protest.

The tribunal issued the order on Feb. 13 as the manual recount of votes from Marcos’ pilot provinces is set to start on March 19.

“Considering that the revision process is about to commence, the tribunal directs both the protestant and protestee to observe the sub judice rule,” the PET said in a two-page resolution.

The court also urged Marcos’ camp to comment on the petition filed by Robredo, asking the PET to withdraw all pending motions that could delay the recount.

Marcos was asked to inform the court within 10 days if he intends to file a similar plea.

Marcos’ electoral protest covers 132,446 precincts. Robredo has filed a counter protest covering 31,278 precincts.

The recount will first cover the provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

Robredo defeated Marcos in the vice presidential race by a margin of 263,473 votes.

Marcos has accused Robredo of poll fraud by manipulating the automated elections as images of ballots cast in Camarines Sur showed votes for him were not counted.

The son and namesake of the late dictator earlier challenged Robredo to withdraw all pending motions so the recount could proceed. Robredo has accepted the challenge.

Robredo’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal is confident Marcos’ protest would be dismissed once the recount of votes from the three pilot provinces is completed.

“With just these three provinces, I think we would knock out our opponent,” he said.

Bernadette Sardillo, one of the Vice President’s counsels, said they would comply with the gag order issued by the court.

“As we have always done, we will abide by the PET’s latest order,” Sardillo said.