THE camp of Vice President Maria Leonor Robredo has accused former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos of deceiving and lying to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal after he submitted a list of witnesses from the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan who were not registered voters.
In a manifestation and comment to the PET, Robredo’s lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Maria Bernadette Sardillo informed the PET that Marcos submitted names of proposed witnesses who were not registered voters of the precincts as stated in his list.
They stressed that some were not even registered voters during the May 2016 National and Local Elections.
There was no immediately available comment from the Marcos camp.
In his manifestation, Macalintal said: “In his vain attempt to convince the Honorable Tribunal to conduct a technical examination of election documents in the Provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Basilan, Marcos has practically resorted to misleading if not totally deceptive representation.”
During the preliminary conference last July 11, both parties agreed to name three witnesses per clustered precinct and submit it to the PET. Robredo’s camp said Marcos did not comply.
When ordered by the PET on August 29, Marcos again did not comply, it added.
After being given another chance by the PET to comply, Marcos submitted the names of 8,000 alleged registered voters.
“Contrary to these baseless claims, if not outright falsehood, the alleged witnesses identified by protestant Marcos are not registered voters,” Macalintal stressed.
With his latest finding, Macalintal stressed that Marcos’ election protest against Robredo was bereft of facts, based on his latest submission to the PET.
“Marcos must be reminded that the Honorable Tribunal is a court of law which deals with facts supported by evidence,” Macalintal said.
“The plain truth is, the Election Protest filed by protestant Marcos is not supported by his own supposed evidence,” he added.