Leni to PET: Resolve Bongbong poll protest now

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday moved for resolution of the election protest of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. before the Supreme Court (SC) sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

In a nine-page urgent motion filed through lawyer Romulo Macalintal, Robredo asked the PET to immediately resolve pending motions pertaining to the recount of ballots in three pilot provinces so as to proceed with the resolution of the case three years after the vice presidential election.

The Vice President’s camp claimed that the recount of votes in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental was already completed last March and showed that the lead of Robredo even increased by over 15,000 votes.

Robredo was proclaimed vice president in 2016 with a margin of 263,473 votes against Marcos. Her camp revealed that after the recount of votes from the three provinces, the lead rose to 279,215 or an additional margin of 15,742 votes.

“Without preempting the resolution of the Honorable Tribunal, the result of the revision, recount and re-appreciation of the ballots clearly confirm the victory of protestee Robredo,” read her motion.

Macalintal explained that the additional votes for Robredo came from “stray votes” or votes that were not counted by the machines because the voter only put a dot or checked the oval.

“The difference in the votes credited to the parties in the physical count of the ballots was due to the application of the 50 percent threshold during the revision, recount and re-appreciation of the ballots,” he stressed.

“Those kinds of votes were not counted by the machines, but if revision and recount were conducted, these are counted and it showed… close to 15,000 (votes) on our part that were not counted by the vote counting machines,” Macalintal explained in an interview.

Macalintal said the votes for Marcos also increased after the recount, but only by 4,191 votes.

With this, Robredo’s camp urged the PET to now decide whether or not there is basis to proceed with the recount on remaining contested precincts in Marcos’ protest.

The PET has not issued any ruling since the completion of the recount in the pilot provinces last March to provide the public an update on the results.

The camp of Marcos, however, was quick to question the figures released by Robredo’s camp.

Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesman, stressed that the PET has yet to release the figures from the recount of the three provinces.

“What they have at the moment are all self-serving assumptions meant to mislead the Filipino people who have long been waiting for the result of the election protest filed by (Marcos), the early resolution of which Mrs. Robredo has time and again suppressed by her delaying tactics,” Rodriguez said in a text message when sought for reaction. 

He suggested that Robredo should instead focus her attention on answering the Commission on Audit (COA) report on the Office of the Vice President’s Angat Buhay program.

The COA has called out Robredo’s office for failure to monitor its P44.66-million fund allocation for the Angat Buhay program and implement rules requiring local government beneficiaries to submit supporting documents.

Earlier, the camp of Marcos also appealed to the SC to now resolve their pending pleadings, including a motion seeking to conduct a technical examination of the election returns and election day computerized voters list from the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguidanao.

They sought the technical examination on three new provinces after the findings of the voters identification division of the Commission on Elections-Election Record and Statistics Department, which conducted a technical examination in response to the election protest of former Sulu vice governor Abdusakur Tan against then Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor Mujiv Hataman.

After the recount of these three pilot provinces covering a total of 5,418 clustered precincts, the PET will decide whether or not to proceed with the recount on a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities identified in the protest of Marcos.  

The technical examination, on the other hand, involves the comparison of signatures and thumbprints of voters in the voter’s registration record as against the election day computerized voters list.

In his protest, Marcos contested the results in a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities. 

Robredo won the vice presidential race in the May 2016 polls with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 more than Marcos’ 14,155,344 votes.

Deficiencies to be addressed

Meanwhile, the Office of the Vice President vowed yesterday to address the deficiencies flagged by the COA over its implementation of locally funded projects under its Angat Buhay program.

In a statement, the OVP said it has taken note of COA’s reminder to ensure that local government units (LGUs) that received funding for programs submit all necessary requirements, including liquidation documents and accomplishment reports.

“We accept COA’s reminder to ensure that all requirements should be submitted. Fortunately, these LGUs still have until Dec. 31, 2019 to comply, as specified in their memorandum of agreement with the OVP, which COA has likewise noted,” the OVP said.

“Nevertheless, the OVP continues to remind the LGU recipients of their obligations. The office has also formed a Project Management Unit early this year, whose responsibilities include compiling the documentary requirements from the LGUs,” it added.

In its annual audit report for the OVP, state auditors noted deficiencies in the implementation of Angat Buhay program, which transferred a total of P44,664,978.64 to 29 cities and municipalities last year to support poverty alleviation programs.

Among the deficiencies cited by the audit body was the supposed failure of the OVP to demand official receipts as well as liquidation and accomplishment reports from the recipient LGUs.

It also noted the lack of “clear-cut procedure on the selection of recipient LGUs, tainting the impartiality and fairness of the screening process, which defeats the purpose of providing LGUs with financial assistance based on need or opportunity.”

In its statement, the OVP stressed that the requesting LGUs were selected through a set of criteria that considers their localities’ needs or their record of good governance. 

“COA has been provided with the explanation for how each of these areas has passed the criteria, in response to their comment,” it said.

“Additionally, as observed by COA, we continue our efforts in gaining a deeper understanding of the circumstances in the localities – which include some of the farthest and poorest areas in the country – as well as in validating the necessity and implementation of the LGUs’ proposed projects,” the OVP said.