Vice President Leni Robredo can only offer sympathy for the supporters of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who she said can’t accept defeat in the 2016 elections.
(OVP / Facebook / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Robredo said Marcos is fooling his supporters by making them believe that he won in the vice presidential race.
“Nakakaawa iyong supporters. Kasi kapag nabasa mo iyong mga post nila, akala talaga nila dinaya iyong kanilang boss dahil pinapapaniwala ni Mr. Marcos na ganiyan (His supporters are pitiful. Because if you read their posts, they thought their boss was really cheated because Mr. Marcos made them believe that was what happened),” she said.
“Para sa akin, siya yung may kasalanan sa supporters niya kasi sinusubo niya. Sinusubo niya iyong supporters niya sa isang bagay na kasinungalingan (For me, he is the one at fault because he is feeding lies to his supporters),” she added.
The vice president made the remark when asked in a radio interview about Marcos’ attempt to bar Associate Justice Marvic Leonen from participating in deliberations on the election protest filed against her by Marcos.
Leonen is the justice-in-charge of Marcos’ election protest.
The Supreme Court (SC), acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), junked the motion of Marcos seeking Leonen’s inhibition last week.
Robredo said the results of a poll recount by PET affirmed her victory and she pitied Marcos’ supporters who thought otherwise.
Her lead over Marcos widened by over 15,000 based on the manual recount done by PET in the three pilot provinces—Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental—all of which were chosen by Marcos.
Under PET Rule 65, the Tribunal may dismiss an election protest if it finds that the protestant will “most probably fail to make out his case” based on the ballot examination in the pilot provinces.
“Nagsalita na iyong Kongreso noong dineclare kami, nagsalita na iyong Supreme Court na iyon, ‘di ba, iyong causes of action niya. Sinabi na ng Supreme Court na ito pagkatapos na i-revise iyong mga ballots mas nadagdagan pa ako, parang walang pagtanggap,” she said.