Former Senator Ferdinang “Bongbong“ Marcos Jr. is trying to erode democratic institutions by casting doubts on the integrity of the Supreme Court through his lies and fake news, Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday.
The vice president lamented Marcos’ attempt to spread false information about the finality of the decision of the SC, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to dismiss his electoral protest.
“He is willing to destroy our institutions, cast doubt on the Comelec, the Supreme Court so he can get his way. For me, there should be no destruction of democratic institution for your political gain. I think this is what’s worse,” Robredo said in Filipino during her weekly radio show.
“Instead of accepting the decision, he wants to cast doubt on the integrity of the institution.”
Last week, the PET voted unanimously to dismiss the electoral protest because of lack of merit. Marcos’ camp hinted that the decision was not yet final because the PET only junked one part of the protest. The SC then clarified that the whole petition has been dismissed.
During the recount of the votes in three provinces in 2019, Robredo even gained a further advantage of 15,000 votes over Marcos, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Robredo lamented that even with the finality of the decision, the camp of the defeated senator is still spreading “fake news” to “save face” with his supporters.
“It’s been almost five years that they are trying to make his supporters believe (that he won). If Mr. Marcos has a debt, his debt is to the people who he made believe. His propaganda that he was cheated, there are people who believed him. This is his fault,” she said.
“This is not a simple lie. We can see how the ambition of one person, the ambition of a politician to get what he wants, he will really destroy the institution,” Robredo noted.
The opposition leader said this was the first or second time that the PET ruled with finality in an electoral protest. Previous protests have been moot, but in this case, “natuldukan talaga (it was finalized).”
Robredo added that Marcos’ move to erode democratic institutions is not simply between him and her. He is destroying the country, the vice president said.