Marcos withdraws PET motions
To speed up vote recount
TO prove his desire to expedite the recount of votes, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday signed a motion withdrawing all his motions pending before the Supreme Court, which sits as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Marcos signed the motion hours after the camp of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo accepted the former senator’s chal before the PET.
With the signing of the motion, Marcos said he and Robredo will be “withdrawing any and all motions and incidents that may unduly delay or hamper the election proceedings.”
“I’ve done everything possible to speed up this election protest. At this point, the only thing left is for Mrs. Robredo to sign the document. We are waiting,” Marcos said.
Robredo’s camp on Tuesday said the vice president will sign a motion to withdraw all pending motions to speed up the recount of ballots for the vice presidential race.
“We accept the challenge of Mr. Marcos and his lawyer to sign a joint motion to withdraw any and all pending motions and incidents at the PET which may cause the delay of the recount of ballots from the pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental,” Romulo Macalintal, Robredo’s lawyer, said in a statement.
Robredo’s camp earlier accused Marcos of pulling a publicity stunt in calling for the withdrawal of their motions.
The recount of votes is expected to start in February.
Robredo beat Marcos by 263,473 votes in 2016, but the former senator claimed he lost because of fraud.