SC asks BBM, Leni: Spend for poll cases

The Supreme Court (SC) has required former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo to pay for the cost of their election protests.

Marcos would need to pay more than P66 million while Robredo has to pay more than P15 million for the review of vote results in 2016 vice presidential race.

The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), required both to pay half the required amount by April 14 and settle the balance by July 14.

In a resolution dated March 21, the SC said the amount will be used for the retrieval of ballots in more than 163,000 precincts.

The SC explained that the amount needed to transfer the ballot boxes to the PET is P500 per precinct.

Because of this, Marcos would have to shell out a total of P66,023,000 as he questioned vote results in 132,446 precincts, while Robredo would need to spend P15,439,000 for contesting vote results in 31,278 precincts in the country.

3 provinces’ results questioned

“The protest and counter-protest require the bringing of ballot boxes and other paraphernalia to the Tribunal for all the foregoing precincts,” the PET resolution stated.

Marcos, who lost to Robredo, has filed a poll protest on June 29 last year, claiming that Robredo’s camp had manipulated the polls.

Marcos wants the PET to annul vote results in Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao and to nullify the proclamation of Robredo as vice president.

Robredo last August sought the SC’s dismissal of the poll protest filed against her, but the SC in a decision last February denied her prayer.

In Robredo’s argument, the poll protest questioning the validity of the votes cast should be raised before the Congress acting as the National Board of Canvassers, and not with the High Court.

But the SC said it has jurisdiction to try the case as mandated by the 1987 Constitution, contrary to one of the grounds raised by Robredo that the SC could not proceed with the case as it has no jurisdiction.