The camp of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday vowed to comply with the order of the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, penalizing him and the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo for allegedly violating the gag order imposed by the tribunal.
Marcos’ spokesman Vic Rodriguez said they respect the decision of the PET ordering both Marcos and Robredo camps to pay a P50,000 fine for violating the sub judice rules, in connection with the ongoing revision of votes for the 2016 vice presidential race.
“From the filing of the protest and all throughout its processes, we have been respectful of the Tribunal. We respect the decision of the Tribunal and will be more mindful of the sub judice rule in the future,” Rodriguez said in a statement.
“We will continuously abide by the Tribunal’s rulings as we continue our quest for justice in our on-going election protest,” he added.
The Robredo camp said they have yet to receive a copy of the tribunal’s order.
“We have not received a copy of the resolution and we don’t want to preempt the Supreme Court,” Robredo’s legal counsel Romulo Macalintal said in a statement.
“However, we stand firm that the lies propagated by the Marcos camp called on us to defend ourselves. Sometimes, we have no choice but to speak out, in order for the public to be enlightened amid the relentless black propaganda, which aims to discredit the recount being spearheaded by the PET,” Macalintal added.
The PET earlier ordered both camps to pay P50,000 each for discussing their arguments and the merits of the election protest in public and media interviews.
On April 10, the PET directed both parties to show cause and explain why they should not be cited in contempt for violating the resolutions dated Feb. 13, 2018 and March 20, 2018.
In a resolution dated Feb. 13, the tribunal ordered the parties to strictly observe the sub judice rule pending the proceedings of the instant case.
Despite PET’s warnings, several news reports showed that the parties, their counsels or their representatives, continued to disclose sensitive information regarding the revision process to the public, a clear violation of the tribunal’s resolutions.
Both camps denied violating the rule in their respective answers but failed to convince the tribunal.
The manual recount and revision of votes in the protest filed by Marcos against Robredo started last April. The process covers three provinces identified by Marcos in his protest.
PET has finished its manual recount and revision of ballots in Camarines Sur. Undergoing the process are the ballots in Iloilo and later in Negros Oriental.
Results of the recount and revision of ballots in the three provinces will enable the PET to decide whether it will pursue with the same process in the other cities and provinces named by Marcos in his protest.