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Friday, March 29, 2024

High tribunal ‘gags’ Leni, Bongbong

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THE recent tit-for-tat between the camp of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo has prompted the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to issue a gag order mandating both camps from making further comments on the pending election protest filed by the lawmaker against her.

In a two-page resolution, the PET required both the protestant and protestee to observe the sub judice rule, which restrains them from discussing in public the ongoing judicial proceedings on the election protest against Robredo.

“Considering that the revision process is about to commence, the Tribunal directs both protestant and protestee to observe the sub judice rule,” stated the resolution dated Feb. 13, 2018 signed by Felipa B. Anama, Clerk of the Tribunal.

 Marcos counsel Vic Rodriguez said they already received the copy of the PET resolution and vowed to comply with it.

 Rodriguez, in a text message said: “Yes we have received our copy of the PET resolution. 

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“Essentially it is just a reminder from the Tribunal for the parties to observe the sub judice rule which restricts litigants and their lawyers to make comments and/or disclosures on a pending judicial proceedings so that the case be decided upon evidence presented before the court and the determination of such facts should be uninfluenced by bias, prejudice and sympathies.  

“Fair and accurate reporting of what actually took place in open court are excluded from its coverage.”  

The PET also ordered Marcos to comment on the motion filed by Robredo to “withdraw any and all pending motions which may delay recount proceedings.”

“Based on the records of this case, the Tribunal finds that there are no such pending motions from protestee. Accordingly, the Tribunal resolves to note the motion and require the protestant to submit his comment thereon and inform the tribunal if he intends to file a similar motion as that filed by protestee within 10 days from notice hereof,” PET said.

Both camps earlier agreed to withdraw all the motions they had filed before PET to speed up the revision of contested votes in the vice presidential election in 2016.

The PET has resolved to start the revision proceedings next month, covering three pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, which were chosen by Marcos to prove his allegation of irregularities in the 2016 polls.

Robredo’s counsel, Romulo Macalintal, said the recount covering the three pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental would commence on March 19.

 Marcos filed the protest on June 29, 2016, claiming the camp of Robredo cheated in the automated polls in May that year.

 In his protest, Marcos contested the results in a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities.

 In his preliminary conference briefing, Marcos also sought a recount in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

 Robredo filed her answer in August last year and filed a counter-protest, questioning the results in more than 30,000 polling precincts in several provinces where Marcos won.

 She also sought the dismissal of the protest for lack of merit and jurisdiction of PET.

 The PET dismissed Robredo’s plea and proceeded with the case after finding the protest sufficient in form and substance.

 Robredo won the vice presidential race in the May 2016 polls with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 more than Marcos’ 14,155,344 votes.

 

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