Iloilo voters back Leni’s plea on voting threshold issue

MANILA — A group of voters from Iloilo province yesterday urged the Supreme Court, sitting as the President Electoral Tribunal, to apply 25-percent shading threshold in determining the validity of a vote in the ongoing vice presidential race recount.

In a letter to Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, Iloilo voters led by actress Cynthia Patag told the tribunal that their “votes will be disenfranchised” and their “voices will not be heard” if a higher threshold will be used in the recount. They said that as voters, they are empowered by the 1987 Constitution to “choose leaders” they believe in.

“This right should and must not be taken away from us. We are ready to fight fiercely for this invaluable right which gives our voices a chance to be heard, to level the playing field for ordinary citizens like us,” the letter read.

This is in support of Robredo's appeal to the tribunal asking for the same action. The vice president, in a motion she personally filed on April 19, said that the Commission on Elections applied the 25-percent threshold during the 2016 national elections.

Former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., challenged Robredo's win in the 2016 national elections in an electoral protest before the PET.

On April 2, the PET started its recount of ballot boxes from Marcos' three pilot provinces. Robredo insisted that the tribunal should apply 25-percent threshold in a determining the validity of a vote as the Commission on Elections had set this threshold for the 2016 elections.