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Friday, March 29, 2024

Chief Justice says Marcos may file a motion for reconsideration

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Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta Jr. on Friday said former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. could file a motion for reconsideration of the decision of the Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, unanimously dismissing his election protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

Peralta stressed that Marcos might appeal the PET decision as part of his right and legal remedies.

The Marcos camp has not decided yet on whether to file a motion for reconsideration because he has yet to receive a copy of the tribunal’s ruling.

According to Peralta, the copy of the decision has not been released to the public because the other SC justices have yet to submit their written opinions.

The chief magistrate declined to discuss the reasons for the dismissal of Marcos’ election protest, citing confidentiality of court deliberations.

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Marcos lawyer and spokesperson Vic Rodriguez said they wanted to know if the PET dismissed the election protest in its entirety or only a portion of it.

Rodriguez insisted that their third cause of action—the annulment of 2016 election results for vice president in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao— might proceed independently from the manual recount and judicial revision.

But Peralta pointed out that “all issues were tackled” in the PET’s decision.

The SC Public Information Office also issued a statement stating that the justices dismissed the “entire electoral protest” for lack of merit.

However, Peralta declined to comment on the possible impact on the protest should Marcos push through with his plan to run for public office in the 2022 national elections.

“That’s his choice [to run]. As to whether or not it will abandon his protest, that’s another thing,” Peralta said.

The PET dismissed Miriam Defensor Santiago’s poll protest against Fidel Ramos over the results of the 1992 presidential race when the former senator ran for the Senate in 1995, an act which the electoral tribunal construed as an abandonment of her protest.

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