MANILA, Philippines — The investigation into Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III’s allegations of irregularity in the May 2016 elections must be conducted “at the soonest time,” Vice President Leni Robredo said yesterday.
Robredo, who is facing an electoral protest from former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said the accusations are serious and would affect all elected officials.
“I’m interested in the (investigation) because it affects the entire electoral process,” the Vice President told reporters after attending an event in Makati City.
She said a probe on Sotto’s allegations should be done immediately as the country is set to hold the midterm elections next year.
“Those who were elected for a three-year term (in 2016) will end their term next year. So if there are accusations of irregularities, this will be unfair to those who really won the elections,” she said.
In a radio interview yesterday, Sotto said the Senate electoral committee and the joint congressional oversight committee on the automated election system will both look into the issue.
Citing an “impeccable” source, Sotto claimed in a privilege speech last week that some senators, including then presidential candidate Grace Poe, got zero votes in hundreds of polling precincts due to “fraud” that allegedly altered results of the automated balloting.
The senator also alleged that the votes were transmitted a day before the May 9, 2016 elections and that poll servers were accessed by a foreign party.