FORMER Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has called on his supporters who gathered in front of the Supreme Court in Manila to remain calm despite another delay in the recounting of votes in his election protest.
In a message to hundreds of his supporters who have been holding a prayer rally at the Supreme Court premises since Wednesday, Marcos said, “I feel your frustration. But let us remain calm. We have come this far and I promise you that we will not stop until every one of your votes have been counted.
“I promise you we will not stop until we have uncovered the truth of why there are square boxes instead of oval shadings. The truth is slowly coming out. We shall prevail.”
According to reports submitted by Marcos’ retrieval team, who accompanied the trucks which brought the ballot boxes to Manila, the third and last batch of ballot boxes—totaling 424 ballot boxes altogether—were unloaded in the Supreme Court gym at 11:30 p.m. of Feb. 1.
However, the next day, at 1:30 p.m., the office of SC Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa met with the lawyers and supervisors of Marcos and Vice President Leni Robredo and handed them a “Projected Timeline of Activities” for the recounting of ballots, among others.
As clearly indicated in the new timeline, the recounting of ballots was now scheduled for March 19, 2018. The reason for the one-month delay was for the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to “conduct and process psychological examinations” for its revisors.
In a press statement released by the Marcos camp to media, Marcos said: “Many of you [his supporters] have been asking me why the inordinate delay again.
“It’s been almost two years and yet, on the eve of the arrival of the last batch of ballot boxes, that’s the only time the PET will conduct psychological examinations for its revisors? Well, I guess we have [no] choice but to follow Justice Caguioa’s decision. I’m just wondering . . . why do it only now?”