The Presidential Electoral Tribunal is set to start this morning its manual recount and revision of ballots in three provinces identified by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. in his protest against Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” G. Robredo.
Set for manual recount and revision are ballots in 1,400 boxes which have been retrieved by the PET, composed of all Supreme Court justices, from Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.
Three members of an ad hoc committee have been designated by the PET to oversee 50 sets of revisors which will do the manual recount and revision on the fifth floor of the SC-Court of Appeals building on Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila.
With Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno on indefinite leave, Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio is the acting chief justice and acting head of the PET.
Members of the PET’s adhoc committee are lawyers Jose Lemuel S. Arenas, Edgar O. Aricheta, and Ma. Carina M. Cunanan.
The SC also starts today its summer sessions in Baguio City where the pending incidents on the quo warranto case against Sereno are expected to be tackled starting tomorrow.
These incidents are the filing of Sereno’s comment, the reply to the comment filed by Solicitor General Jose C. Calida in behalf of the government, and the petitions for interventions filed by several groups which sought the dismissal of the quo warranto case.
Also expected to be tackled and decided upon by the SC is whether or not an oral argument would be conducted on the case that seeks to disqualify and unseat Sereno as head of the Judiciary.
Today’s manual recount and revision of votes in an election protest would be the first for the PET. Earlier election protest such as the 2004 presidential contest between then President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo and the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. did not reach the recount stage.
Based on results in the 2016 elections, Robredo was declared winner in the vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 more than the 14,155,344 votes garnered by Marcos. (Rey G. Panaligan)
