SC finds ‘no merit’ in Marcos’ poll protest versus Robredo

THE Supreme Court on February 16, 2021, dismissed “for lack of merit” the election protest of former senator, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos against sitting vice president, Ma. Leonor ‘Leni’ Robredo.

SC spokesperson, Brian Hosaka, in a news briefing, told the media that the vote was “unanimous” with the vote that took nearly 5 years since Marcos, citing electoral fraud, filed his protest before the SC on June 29, 2016.

The SC sits as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), for election protests involving the presidency and the vice presidency.

With the voting’s result, the high court also junked the counter-protest filed by Robredo.

Of the 15 justices present, Hosaka said 7 of them “fully concurred” in the dismissal while the rest “concurred” with the decision. The decision will be uploaded to the high court’s website once available, he added.

Robredo beat Marcos by 263,473 votes in the 2016 polls and her lead further increased by 15,000 votes after a “manual recount” of the votes in 3 provinces that Marcos had selected.

Marcos then urged for the “re-examination” of the vote count but this was opposed by Robredo’s camp after Marcos failed to provide evidence to support his motion.

Robredo: ‘Truth prevailed;’ Marcos: to seek another post in 2022

Hours after hearing the high court’s verdict, Robredo on Tuesday night held a press conference and claimed that “truth has prevailed.”

“Ngayong araw, nanaig ang katotohanan. Naitaguyod ang tunay na pasya noong 2016,” Robredo said.

“Naniwala kami na sa dulo, katotohanan ang mananaig. Naniwala kami sa proseso, naniwala kami sa integridad ng PET justices.

“We are happy and grateful that this trust was affirmed,” Robredo stated further.

Unmoved by the result, Atty. Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesperson, pointed out that the SC has not decided yet on the “third cause of action” they had filed to establish the true result of the 2016 vice presidential race.

This call for the annulment of election results from the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan, all in Mindanao island, allegedly due to “terrorism” and “voter intimidation.”

Rodriguez also told the media that Marcos would definitely return to politics by running in the 2022 national elections.

However, he stopped short from naming what position Marcos would be seeking.

Last year, Marcos and Solicitor General Jose Calida had also attempted to remove Associate Justice Marvic Leonen as the magistrate in charge of the protest, after Leonen dilly-dallied in resolving the case, but this was denied by the court.