By Raymund Antonio
Vice President Leni Robredo is confident with the final results of the vice presidential recount of votes by the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Vice President Leni Robredo (Photo courtesy of Office of the Vice President of the Philippines via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
Robredo, who is facing an electoral protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said she has nothing to worry about the results of the ongoing manual recount.
Father Jerome Secillano asked her during a recent interview on Church-run Radyo Veritas if she is leading in the recount.
The Vice President confidently replied: Oo naman, Father. Malayo, malayo. Walang dapat ikabahala. (Yes, Father. I have a big lead. Nothing to worry about.)
Robredo said the PET is counting the votes in her favor with its latest ruling that set aside the use of the 50 percent shading threshold in the manual recount.
In a September 18 decision, the tribunal partially granted Robredo’s motion seeking the application of the 25 percent threshold used by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the 2016 elections.
The recount covers Marcos' three pilot provinces: Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental. Robredo obtained a total of 1,493,517 votes in these areas against the 202,136 votes of Marcos.
Robredo did not elaborate on the recount tally of SC, acting as PET, due to its gag order that prohibits her and Marcos to publicly discuss the merits of the election case.
The Vice President only said she preferred the recount to be finished soon so there will no longer a “platform on fake news.”
Robredo, a lawyer, earlier reacted to news reports she had lost more than 21,000 votes from the ongoing recount, calling it fake news.
Her camp expects the PET will finish recounting the ballots from the three pilot provinces before the year ends.
Robredo’s co-counsel Maria Bernadette Sardillo said she hoped the latest PET ruling would hasten the revision proceedings.