FORMER Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to stop the Commission on Elections from releasing the Vote-Counting Machines to Smartmatic.
He said the tribunal had the sole authority to decide on the release of 1,356 VCMs to Smartmatic, adding the Comelec would be violating the Precautionary Protective Order issued by the tribunal if it did.
Marcos had filed an election protest seeking to nullify the proclamation of his rival Leni Robredo as the elected vice president in the May 2016 elections.
He appealed to the tribunal to stop the Comelec from releasing the supposedly unused VCMs to Smartmatic on the ground it would violate the PPO it earlier issued to preserve all the election materials and equipment used in the May elections.
“As can be inferred from its letter dated 27 September 2016, the Comelec made a unilateral determination that the subject VCMs are not within the scope of the PPO, Marcos said in his appeal to the tribunal.
He also raised doubt on the assurances given by the Comelec that through a mere examination of the VCMs and the SD cards, they would be able to determine if those had been used since there was always the possibility of switching.
‘‘Indeed, the possibility of the switching of the VCMs and SD cards cannot be ruled out, Marcos said.
He said any technical evaluation on the VCMs should be made under the direct supervision of the High Tribunal.
“For purposes of determining the inclusion or exclusion of the subject VCMs from the PPO, protestant Marcos implores the High Tribunal to direct the technical examination of the subject VCMs, their SD cards and the system logs containing the deployment and use of the VCMs during the 9 May 2016 Elections,” Marcos said.