Robredo lawyer slams ‘publicity stunt’ of Marcos on poll protest

FILE: Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo (PNA photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday described as a “publicity stunt” the challenge of former Senator Bongbong Marcos for them to withdraw all pending protests to have a speedy election case.

Marcos earlier challenged Robredo to withdraw all pending motions before the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) in connection with the poll protest to proceed with the recount of questioned ballots in the May 2016 vice presidential race.

“I issue the challenge to Leni Robredo, withdraw all your motion. I will withdraw all my motions para wala ng pag-aralan ang korte and we can proceed with the recount,” Marcos said in a press briefing.

However, Atty. Maria Bernadette Sardillo, Robredo’s co-counsel, said that Marcos’ was also a “Marcosian tactic” to supposedly “revise the history” and “confuse the public.”

“They are the ones who actually have a pending motion. Just like the previous times that they filed frivolous motions one after another to delay the case,” Sardillo said.

“If they really want a recount, they should go to PET, not the public. It’s the PET which will decide the merits of the case,” she added.

Lawyer Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ spokesperson, also reiterated the call in an attempt to clear the issue on the ballot images, and alleged undervotes and overvotes.

“To clear the issue conclusively on the ballot images, undervotes and overvotes, we would like to challenge Mrs. Leni Robredo to sign a joint motion withdrawing all our outstanding motions so we could go straight to the recount,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

“We have been instructed by Senator Marcos to draft the joint motion and Senator Marcos is ready to sign it anytime. We are fervently hoping that Mrs. Robredo will do the same,” the spokesman added.

It can be recalled that Marcos urged Commission on Elections (Comelec) to explain the “square shapes” in his copies of ballot images which he claimed as new evidence showing that Robredo allegedly cheated in the previous election.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in the May 2016 elections.