By Raymund F. Antonio The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday again expressed confidence that the vote recount will come in favor of her as the retrieval of ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, her home province, will start on Tuesday, January 23. Robredo’s lawyer Maria Bernadette Sardillo said the vice presidential election results would be the same when the votes in Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental were counted. These are the three pilot provinces former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. chose where the initial ballot recount will be held beginning February in connection with his election protest against Robredo. The merit of the rest of Marcos’ protest depends on the findings in these provinces. “Inaasahan mapatutunayan ng muling pagbilang ng balota ang pagkapanalo ni Vice President Leni Robredo (We expect the recount of votes will prove the victory of Vice President Leni Robredo), Sardillo said in a radio interview in Naga City. Sardillo is in Naga City for the scheduled retrieval of ballot boxes and election documents from clustered precincts in 37 cities and towns in Camarines Sur. Municipal treasurers and local election officials will retrieve the ballots until Friday, January 26. They will then bring the ballot boxes and election paraphernalia to the gymnasium of the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, and Court of Appeals in Ermita, Manila for the vote recount. “Kapag nakumpleto na ang lahat ng balota mula sa Camarines Sur, malalaman natin sa Korte Suprema kung kailan eksaktong sisimulan ang muling pagbibilang ng balota (Once all of the ballots from Camarines Sur are complete, we will know from the Supreme Court the exact date of the start of the ballot recount),” said Sardillo. The lady lawyer said Robredo wants the vote recount to be finished soon to “vindicate her from the baseless accusation” of Marcos that she cheated in the 2016 vice presidential elections. She even called on Robredo’s supporters in Camarines Sur to “continue guarding the process of the protest.” Robredo, through her lawyers, asked the PET to allow representatives from both camps during the inventory and transport of ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental. Sardillo said the PET already granted their request to send representatives when ballots are retrieved in these pilot provinces.