The truth has prevailed.
This is the message of the various members from the camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday after the Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), unanimously dismissed the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. who lost to Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential race.
In a Facebook post, Aika Robredo, the vice president’s eldest daughter, shared a photo of her mother with her back turned from the camera with the words: “Sa huli, ang tama ang laging mananaig (In the end, the truth shall always prevail).”
Aika captioned the post simply with “Today.”
Office of the Vice President (OVP) Undersecretary Philip Dy, Robredo’s chief of staff, said also on Facebook that he has mixed feelings about the High Court’s decision.
“Sa totoo lang, di ko pa naiintindihan yung nararamdaman ko. Merong 'totoo ba ito.' Merong 'sa wakas.' Merong relief. Merong saya. Merong excitement. Higit sa lahat, merong pasasalamat. Malalim na pasasalamat (In truth, I cannot understand how I feel. There is ‘Is this true?’ There’s ‘finally.’ There’s relief. There’s joy. There’s excitement. Most of all, there’s gratitude. Deep gratitude),” he said.
“Pasasalamat na natuldukan na yung kasinungalingan. Pasasalamat na kasinliwanag ng araw ang katotohanan. Pasasalamat na move on na sa wakas, dahil ang daming mas mahalagang kailangang buhusan ng atensyon at panahon. Congrats, Mam Leni! Tuloy ang trabaho (Thankful that the lies have finally come to an end. Thankful that the truth is as bright as the sun. Thankful that we can move on finally, because there are more important things that we should pour our attention and time into. Congrats, Ma’am Leni! Back to work)!”
“After a tense morning (or was it four and a half years?), I can breathe a bit easier. Thank you everyone for your courage, faith, and unflagging support for our -- THE -- Vice President,” Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez tweeted.
Jill Campo-Javiniar, head of OVP’s Angat Buhay program, echoed the same statement.
“The Supreme Court has spoken. Ma’am Leni is the duly elected Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines,” she said in Filipino.
Like Dy, she ended her post with “Back to work,” a testament to Robredo’s infamous dedication and commitment to working hard.
The vice president is set to issue a statement at 6 PM today, Tuesday, at the Quezon City Reception House.
Supreme Court spokesperson Atty. Brian Keith Hosaka made the announcement after the news leaked to the media on Tuesday noon.
He said that out of 15 justices who were present during Tuesday’s morning session, “seven members fully concurred in the dismissal while eight justices concurred in the results.”
During the recount of three pilot provinces in October 2019, the PET said that Robredo’s lead grew by some 15,000 votes from the 5,415 selected clustered precincts in Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.