Robredo camp disproves 5000 loss on electoral recount

Robredo’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal said in an interview with DZMM on April 17, Tuesday, that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) released a resolution that accepted ballots with one-fourth shadings as valid for counting. (PNA Photo)

Insider reports from the 2016 vice presidential electoral recount revealed that Vice President Maria Lenor “Leni” Robredo may lose about 5,000 votes, but her camp’s lawyer denied this.

Robredo’s lawyer Romulo Macalintal said in an interview with DZMM on April 17, Tuesday, that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) released a resolution that accepted ballots with one-fourth shadings as valid for counting.

“It should be Comelec that decides on the threshold for shading, and not PET (Presidential Electoral Tribunal), because it is Comelec that oversaw the conduct of the elections,” Macalintal said.

In the said interview, he also pointed out that in the Supreme Court’s (SC’s) previous rulings, the intention of the voter is an important consideration.

“Did he intend to vote for the candidate or not? That is why SC rulings in these cases are in favor of the voter,” Robredo’s lawyer said.

The SC, sitting as the PET had a ruling last week that denied the motion of Robredo’s camp asking the tribunal to consider the “one-fourth shaded” votes as valid. This motion came after Robredo’s votes were reportedly reduced after the manual recounting in 210 clustered precincts had about 5,000 one-fourth shaded ballots.

However, former Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes disagreed with PET’s denial.

“Why would they (PET) use [a] different threshold for two positions (presidential and vice presidential)?” he said, stressing that PET should have asked Comelec first before issuing the ruling.

In the 2016 elections, Robredo won against former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos by a lead of 263, 473 votes – officially getting 14,418,817 votes versus Marcos’s 14,155,344.

However, Marcos accused Robredo of “massive electoral fraud, anomalies, and irregularities.

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The ongoing recount initiated by an electoral protest from the camp of Marcos started on April 2, covering 5,418 precincts in three provinces chosen by the late dictator’s namesake – Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.