PET turns down Robredo appeal, will proceed with hearing on Marcos protest
The Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) has turned down the appeal of Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo to dismiss the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand
“Bongbong” Marcos Jr., losing vicepresidential candidate in 2016.
“The protestee’s (Robredo’s) prayer to dismiss protest for lack of jurisdiction and for being insufficient in form and substance is denied,” read the eight-page resolution of the PET, which is composed of all the justices of the Supreme Court.
The PET also denied the prayer of Robredo to hold a preliminary hearing on special and affirmative defenses.
“The protest improperly questions the authenticity and due execution of the Certificates of Canvass (COC), which should have been raised as an issue in a pre-proclamation case filed before Congress acting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC),” the PET said in its resolution.
Robredo had also argued that the Marcos protest is “insufficient in form and substance because it failed to state, with detailed specifity, the acts or omissions complained of, showing the electoral frauds, anomalies, and irregularities in the protested precincts” and that “the protestant’s allegations are not hinged on facts and law.”
Citing Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution, the PET explained that the provision states that “the Tribunal shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns, and qualifications of the President or Vice President of the Philippines.”
“The phrase ‘election, returns, and qualifications’ refers to all matters affecting the validity of the contestee’s title, which includes questions on the validity, authenticity, and correctness of the COCs,” it pointed out.
The PET said it had “found the protest to be sufficient in form and substance.” It said the protest “contained narrations of ultimate facts on the alleged irregularities and anomalies in the contested clustered precincts, which the protestant needs to prove in due time.”
Though it denied the motion of Robredo to dismiss the election protest, the PET assured that “as to the veracity of the protestant’s (Marcos) allegations, nothing yet has been proved.”
“The protest is only sufficient for the Tribunal to proceed and give the protestant the opportunity to prove his case in accordance with the 201 PET rules,” it stated.
The Marcos camp welcomed the resolution of PET denying the motion of Robredo. “We are hoping that with this resolution, there will be an end to all these delays and we can finally move forward. There is a need to ferret out the truth as to what really transpired during the vice-presidential race last May,” lawyer Victor Rodriguez said.
“With the issuance of the Summons, the Tribunal has found the protest to be sufficient in form and substance,” he said. “We just want the truth to come out. It’s that simple.”
A ‘procedural matter’ In the camp of Vice President Robredo, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the PET decision “only means that the PET will proceed with the case.”
It is just a procedural matter, he said. “It does not in any way reflect the validity or merits of any allegation of fraud or irregularity contesting the proclamation of Vice President Leni Robredo.”
Macalintal added: “As to the veracity of the protestant’s allegations, nothing yet has been proved.” Marcos is just being given “the opportunity to prove his case,” he said.
“The case would still go through the usual tedious and lengthy process of revision and recount of the ballots,” Macalintal said. “The ballot boxes and their contents would be retrieved from various provinces to be brought to the PET for the recount.”
Robredo was proclaimed winner in the May, 2016,vice-presidential election. Marcos filed his protest case last June 29, accusing her and her political party, the Liberal Party (LP), of “institutionalized cheating.”
Sen. Francis Pangilinan, president of the LP, expressed disappointment yesterday over the ruling of the PET. We wonder how the protest was found to be sufficient in form and substance when, until now, no discrepancy in the election results have been presented?” he said.
Pangilinan appealed to the PET to exercise the highest discretion in decisions that will affect the results of the elections. ‘’We also urge the Filipinos to remain vigilant and steadfast in protecting and supporting the Vice President that we elected,’’ he added. (With reports from Mario B. Casayuran and Merlina Hernando Malipot)