PET, not Comelec, will decide on release of VCMs — Marcos
Poll body earlier decided to release the VCMs to Smartmatic
THE camp of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. filed a manifestation before the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from releasing unused Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) to Smartmatic in view of the election protest of the former senator against Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo.
This was the argument raised by Marcos against the Comelec’s decision to release 1,356 VCMs to Smartmatic, describing such move as a blatant violation of the Precautionary Protective Order (PPO) issued by the Tribunal and a contempt of court.
In an 11-page urgent manifestation and motion, Marcos, through his counsel, George Garcia, asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to stop the Comelec from releasing the supposedly “unused” VCMs to Smartmatic on the ground that doing so would be violative of the PPO it earlier issued to preserve all election materials and equipment used in the May elections.
Garcia also said should the Comelec proceed with the release of the VCMs on Oct. 26, the same may be considered a contempt of court because it is a “disobedience of or resistance to a lawful order of the court” as provided under Section 3, Rule 31 of the 1997 Rules of Court.
Garcia said the act of the poll body to unilaterally declare the VCMs as “unused” is deplorable since the determination of whether they were used or not lies solely with the PET which has jurisdiction over all issues relating to the conduct of the vice presidential elections.
“Protestant Marcos respectfully submits however that Comelec cannot release the subject VCMs as the determination of whether they were used in the 9 May 2016 elections and are thus, covered by the PPO, is solely within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Tribunal. As can be inferred from its letter dated Sept. 27, 2016, the Comelec made a unilateral determination that the subject VCMs are not within the scope of the PPO,” Garcia said.
He also raised doubt on the assurances given by the Comelec that through a mere examination of the VCMs and the SD cards, they will be able to determine if they were used since there is always the possibility of switching.
“Indeed, the possibility of the switching of the VCMs and SD cards cannot be ruled out,” he said.