Robredo assures there is nothing to fear from VP ballot recount

As the Supreme Court (SC) starts the recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race today, April 2, Vice President Leni Robredo told her friends and supporters that they should not be afraid of it. (Photo: VP Leni Robredo/Facebook)

As the Supreme Court (SC) starts the recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race today, April 2, Vice President Leni Robredo told her friends and supporters that they should not be afraid of it.

Robredo said this remark in a short speech at St. Scholastica’s College Manila’s chapel after taking part in a multi-sectoral Mass organized by the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance about two hours before the High Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), began the ballot recount.

“Kaya siguro (This is perhaps [my message]) to all our supporters and our friends who are here today, ‘yung pinapasabi din ng ating mga lawyers: Wala tayong dapat ikatakot. Wala tayong dapat ikatakot kasi katotohanan ang ating ipinaglalaban (The same message with what our lawyers want to convey: We have nothing to be afraid of. We should not be afraid because we are fighting for the truth),” the Vice President said.

The electoral protest Robredo is now facing was filed by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on June 29, 2016. The reason for this protest, Marcos said, was because the camp of Robredo cheated in the automated polls in the May elections.

Despite this, the Vice President remains hopeful about the result of the vote recount.

“This is a time of fear, fear of what is going to happen next, pero manalig tayo (but let’s have faith). Gawin lang ‘yung dati na nating ginagawa. ‘Wag paghinaan ng loob. Maraming limitasyon, pero sa liit ng mundo natin ngayon, kailangan tayo. Kailangan tayo para patuloy na magbigay ng liwanag (Just do what we have been doing. Don’t be disenheatened. There are a lot of limitations, but given that the world is small, we are needed. We are needed to continue to give light),” Robredo stressed.

“Kasi kung tayo mismo ang umayaw, lalong didilim ang paligid (Because if we will give up, the surroundings will be darker), and so many people are looking up to us, for us to fight for them. Kaya patuloy lang tayo (So let’s continue),” she added.

The speech was heard by her supporters who were dressed in white, her legal team led by lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Bernadette Sardillo, and nuns from the Order of Saint Benedict.

Father Ted Gonzales, who celebrated the Mass, as well as other priests present, also blessed Robredo’s legal team.

The Palace, meanwhile, welcomed the ballot recount.

“The Palace welcomes the recount para ma-settle na ‘yang long-festering dispute na ‘yan (to settle this long-festering dispute). This is a judicial matter, this is before the PET already, so we leave it to the coequal branch to handle that,” Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said.

Robredo edged out Marcos in one of the closest elections ever for the vice presidency with 14,418,817 votes, only 263,473 more than the 14,155,344 votes of her rival.

The result prompted Marcos to file electoral protests against the Vice President. The camp of Marcos has also repeatedly questioned the integrity of the 2016 polls as a whole.

The filing of protest was welcomed by the camp of Robredo, saying that they are in favor of it to answer all their allegations. Robredo also submitted a counter-protest questioning the results from more than 30,000 polling precincts where Marcos won.

The election recount took place at the gymnasium at the fifth floor of the SC-Court of Appeals (CA) Building in Padre Faura, Manila.

It will run from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break and two 15-minute breaks.