Leni accuses BBM of lying to PET

The camp of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo yesterday accused former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos of “deceiving and lying” to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

Marcos submitted a list of witnesses from the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan who, according to Robredo’s camp, were “not registered voters.”

Robredo’s lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Maria Bernadette Sardillo – in a manifestation and comment to the PET – informed the High Tribunal that Marcos “submitted names of proposed witnesses who were not registered voters of the precincts as stated in his list.” They stressed that “some were not even registered voters” during the May 2016 National and Local Elections.

Macalintal, in the manifestation said, that in Marcos’ “vain attempt” to convince the PET to conduct a technical examination of election documents in the Provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan, “he has practically resorted to misleading if not totally deceptive representation.”

During the preliminary conference last July 11, both parties agreed to name three witnesses per clustered precinct and submit it to the PET. However, Robredo’s camp said that “Marcos did not comply.” Likewise, “when ordered by the PET on August 29, Marcos again did not comply.”

Robredo’s camp said that “after being given another chance by the PET to comply, Marcos submitted the names of 8,000 alleged registered voters.”