SC defers action on Marcos poll protest
MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), yesterday deferred taking action on former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.
The PET has deferred action on the report of SC Associate Justice Alfredo Caguioa, the justice in charge of the PET case, according to SC spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka.
Caguioa submitted on Sept. 9 his report on the results of the revision of ballots in three pilot provinces – Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Camarines Sur – that covers 5,415 electoral precincts.
Marcos filed the electoral protest in June 2016 to contest Robredo’s lead of a little over 260,000 votes, the closest vice presidential race in recent memory.
The recount result will determine whether Marcos’ protest will be dismissed or not. If there is a big discrepancy between the official tally and figures from the revision, the PET would expand the coverage of the recount to 27 other provinces, coveirng 30,000 poll precincts.
Robredo said the SC’s decision will be a test of the country’s electoral process and justice system.
Robredo said it will impact the credibility of the May 2016 elections, from which a number of incumbent national officials, including President Duterte, owe their mandate. Helen Flores
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