PET denies Marcos plea to inhibit magistrate in poll case

FILE: The Supreme Court (SC) Building. (PNA Photo)

MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), turned down motions seeking the recusal of Associate Justice Marvic Leonen from the election protest case between former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

In a statement on Tuesday, the SC Public Information Office said the PET has “unanimously resolved” to deny the motions for inhibition separately filed by Marcos and Solicitor General Jose Calida.

The court also directed Calida and broadsheet Manila Times reporter Jomar Canlas to explain why they should not be cited in contempt.

Marcos filed his motion on November 9, the same day Calida formally requested the PET to direct Leonen to inhibit himself from the election protest case.

In his 22-page motion, Marcos cited Leonen’s alleged well-documented bias against him and his family as one of the main reasons why the magistrate intentionally sat on his election protest for almost a year.

Marcos also asked the SC to re-raffle his case and resolve all pending incidents related to his electoral protest with less than a year and a half into the next presidential elections in May 2022.

Leonen replaced Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa as the assigned justice of the case in October 2019.

“It is clear that we’ll never get justice if Leonen is around because of his hatred towards me and my family.

This is evidenced by his past decisions where he unequivocally condemned me and my family. It’s obvious he’s doing everything in his power to suppress the real story behind the 2016 Vice-Presidential elections, disenfranchising millions of Filipinos who wanted nothing but credible elections,” Marcos said.

Marcos was defeated by Robredo by a margin of 263,473 votes in the 2016 vice presidential race.