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Marcos asks tribunal to junk Robredo counter-suit

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THE Presidential Electoral Tribunal has been asked to dismiss the counter-protest filed against him by Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

In a motion, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. appealed to the PET, composed of the 15 justices of the Supreme Court, stressed that Robredo’s Verified Answer with Special Affirmative Defenses and Counter Protest was filed beyond the period prescribed by the PET rules.

Marcos, through lawyer George Erwin Garcia, stressed that he filed his protest last June 29 to declare the proclamation of Robredo null and void because the certificates of canvass are not authentic, and may not be used as basis to determine the number of votes that the candidates for vice president received.

According to him, Robredo’s Verified Answer with Special Affirmative Defenses and Counter Protest should have been filed by Aug. 12, 2016, which is the 10th day from her receipt of the Summons and Protest of Marcos in accordance with PET’s Rules 23 and 24.

Marcos said it was clearly seen that “protestee Robredo, per the date reflected on the receiving stamp of the Office of the Clerk of this Honorable Tribunal, it would appear that her Verified Answer with Special and Affirmative Defenses and Counter Protest was belatedly filed on 15 August 2016—or 3 days after the 12 August 2016 deadline.”

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“As a consequence of the above mentioned late filing, protestee Robredo’s Verified Answer with Special and Affirmative Defenses and Counter-Protest should be stricken off and/or expunged from the records of this case for blatantly violating the mandate of Rules 23 and 24 of the 2010 PET Rules,” the former senator pointed out.

Marcos also said “Robredo categorically admitted in her Verified Answer with Special and Affirmative Defenses and Counter Protest that she received the summons and protest on 02 August 2016.” 

“But since, the Verified Answer with Special and Affirmative Defenses and Counter Protest was belatedly filed by protestee Robredo on 15 August 2016, i.e. beyond the 10-day period as mandated by Rule 24 of the PET Rules, her counter-protest was clearly Filed Out Of Time,” he added.

In last May’s elections, Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes.

Robredo earlier asked the PET to dismiss Marcos poll protest on ground that the issues raised by Marcos against her do not constitute an election protest and the case should be dismissed outright.

In her answer contained in 536 pages, Robredo said the protest consisting of “three parts” are not proper grounds for an election protest.

She said the “first part” is just a complaint by Marcos against the action of the Comelec in the lease of the vote counting machines (VCMs) from Smartmatic, which was claimed to have no record of prior use in other elections in other countries.

“Surely, this could not be a ground to contest the election of Robredo since an election protest is a contest between two (2) candidates and not a case involving the problem between Comelec and Smartmatic,” Robredo said.

The vice president noted that the “second part” of the protest is “a mere series of wild accusations, guesses, and surmises.”

She pointed out that the “second part” of Marcos’ protest is his plea for “annulment of the results of elections in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan” should be disregarded in line with the SC’s decision in the case of Abayon vs House of Representative Electoral Tribunal dated May 3, 2016.

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