The camp of Vice President Leni G. Robredo on Wednesday claimed that the election protest filed by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. is “dead.”
Romulo Macalintal, lawyer for Robredo, said that it is “game over” for the electoral protest after the lead of Robredo over Marcos “remained intact following the conclusion of the recount and re-application of ballots from the three pilot provinces” identified by the losing candidate.
“Essentially, this is game over for Marcos as he failed to get substantial recovery from the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Oriental, and Camarines Sur,” said Robredo’s lead counsel and a senatorial aspirant in the 2019 midterm elections.
Robredo’s camp has filed an eight-page supplemental manifestation before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal last Jan. 21 informing the High Court that Marcos “did make a substantial recovery from his pilot provinces for his protest to continue.”
Macalintal explained that “only the ballots from the precincts that were suspended or those with wet ballots are subject of the revision, recount, and re-appreciation proceedings.”
He also noted that Marcos “needs to obtain substantial recovery in his designated pilot provinces before recount could proceed in other areas that he questioned in his election protest.”
Macalintal added that Robredo “even gained additional votes from ballots with less than the 20 percent threshold after the recount and re-appreciation.” (Ina Hernando Malipot)
