SC upholds integrity of 2016 poll results

The Supreme Court (SC) has junked the question raised by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in his electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo on the integrity of the automated election system (AES) during the general elections last year.

The ruling effectively limits the case to the contested votes for Robredo and excluded the votes for other winners during the May 2016 polls.

In a 34-page resolution last Aug. 29, the SC sitting as the Presi- dential Electoral Tribunal (PET) set aside the first issue raised by Marcos in his protest against Robredo for impracticality and lack of necessity in resolving the case.

“Even if protestant succeeds in proving his first cause of action, this will not mean that he has already won the position of vice president as this can only be determined by a manual recount of all votes in all precincts,” read the ruling made public yesterday.

“And if this is a relief protestant has clearly stated he is not praying for, then, allowing the first cause of action to continue would be an exercise in futility and would have no practical effect,” it stressed.

In his protest, Marcos raised the issue on the integrity of the AES and asked the tribunal to declare as unauthentic all the certificates of canvas used in the proclamation of Robredo as the winner with a margin of over 200,000 votes.

The PET, however, held that such could put in question the election results, not only of Robredo’s in the vice presidential posts but also of other national and local elective posts.