THE Robredo-Marcos poll protest case is back in the news several months after the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) announced the results of the recount it conducted on the votes cast in three pilot provinces of Negros Oriental, Iloilo, and Camarines Sur
It took the PET – composed of all member of the Supreme Court – seven months, from April to October, 2019, to conduct the recount of the votes cast in the three provinces chosen by the protesting candidate, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
After initial disputes over the amount of shading of ovals opposite the candidates’’ names in the ballots, the PET decided to maintain the Commission on Elections ruling that 25 percent shading was sufficient to make a vote valid. At the end of the seven-month count, Vice President LenI Robredo’s lead over Marcos had even increased.
Rule 65 of the PET provides that if the initial recount shows no substantial recovery of votes by the protesting candidate, the PET may dismiss the protest. The PET, however, simply announced last October the results of the recount and just asked for comments from the parties.
Marcos has now asked the PET to “reconsider, review, and reexamine” the recount results in the three provinces of Negros Oriental, Iloilo, and Camarines Sur, charging electoral fraud. He also asked the PET to reexamine the voting in another three provinces – Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao – annul the results, and call for new elections.
During the PET proceedings on the protest case, then Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin said the PET was moving carefully “because the credibility of our processes as well the political system here is at stake.” Thus when Justice Benjamin Caguioa, PET member in charge of the protest case, submitted the report on the results of the recount last September 9, PET declined to issue any ruling and simply asked for comments.
It will now have to decide – either to dismiss the protest based on Rule 65 or proceed with Marcos’ next petition to investigate the voting in another three provinces. It took the PET seven months to review the votes cast in Negros Oriental, Iloilo, and Camarines Sur. It may take a similar period to examine the votes cast in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao.
We appreciate the need for the PET to proceed carefully on this case to maintain the credibility of the process in the face of its political implications. But we hope it will manage to decide the issue soon enough and set a template for future protests.
