Fair ruling on Marcos protest vowed

We are expected to have a result by next week, it may not be what you expect

Supreme Court (SC) ruling on the electoral protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos will be based on its merit and not on personal biases of the magistrates or pressure from the public.

This, Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin assured yesterday even as he vowed not to use his position to influence the outcome of the election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Bersamin made the assurance at the sidelines of the launching of the Judiciary Memorabilia Hall where he confirmed that a decision on the case is forthcoming.

“This is something I can tell you — we are expected to have a result by next week, it may not be what you expect. We are still discussing many other things so that is all I can tell you. Don’t worry I am not rigging it. It cannot be rigged,” Bersamin said.

The chief magistrate refused to confirm that a ruling is coming out next week when the Court hold its regular en banc session.

“There may be a decision, there may not be a decision. But the reality is we are still considering whether there are already enough before us,” he said.

The deliberation and voting on the report submitted by Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguiao on the result of the revision and recount of ballots in three pilot provinces covered by the election protest has been deferred twice by the SC-PET.

Caguiao is the justice assigned to handle the election protest.

His report covers the result of the revision and recount of ballots in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Oriental and Camarines Sur involving 5,415 precincts.

The outcome of the revision and recount of ballots in the test provinces would determine whether PET would proceed in the vote revision on 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities identified in Marcos election protest.

There may be a decision, there may not be a decision. But the reality is we are still considering whether there are already enough before us.

Bersamin in explaining why he could not give further details on the case said; “I am bound by confidentiality. I cannot bring you into the Banc otherwise we would make our deliberations public. We have certain rules to follow on non-disclosure and I am very careful not to infringe those rules because I am the leader of the Court” and would not be loquacious or talkative about what they are doing there at the Tribunal.”

He said they are aware about some groups gathering outside the premises of the Court to call for the immediate release of its ruling on the Marcos case.

Bersamin said he and his fellow magistrates do not feel any pressure into deciding in favor of a certain party.