The Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Monday, June 23, to direct the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct a manual recount of the votes cast during the May 12 senatorial election.

In its supplemental petition for mandamus, the PDP-Laban -- the political party of former president Rodrigo Duterte -- told the SC its plea for a recount is mandated under Republic Act No. 9369, the Election Automation Law, and the provisions of the Omnibus Election Code.

The supplemental petition was filed by PDP-Laban National Vice Chairman Alfonso G. Cusi through lawyer Israelito P. Torreon.

The SC is now on its decision-writing period and will resume sessions on July 1.

Last April 3, PDP-Laban filed a petition before the SC for the nullification of four Comelec resolutions that allegedly altered the voting process under election laws.

The petition told the SC that the resolutions were issued beyond the Comelec’s power or authority in violation of RA 9369 and RA 10590, the Overseas Voting Act of 2013.

In its supplemental petition, PDP-Laban cited Comelec’s alleged violations in the weeks leading to the May 12, 2025 mid-term elections.

Among those cited were discovery of Starlink transmission devices and solar panels inside a private residence in Davao City; the undocumented destruction of around six million election ballots by the poll body; the numerous complaints among overseas Filipino voters regarding mismatches between their actual ballot selections and the ballot confirmation receipt; and the discovery of a different version of software installed in the automated counting machines which was not certified by the technical evaluation committee.

It also pointed out the “barrage of blatant and disturbing irregularities” reported by the media, election watchdogs and the voters themselves on the election day itself.

These include, it claimed, the consistent complaints that the ACMs were incorrectly reading and flagging their ballots as having “overvoted” in the senatorial position; the exclusion of more than 17 million senatorial votes in the official tally considered as “overvotes;” rampant mismatches between the actual ballot and voter receipt; and the rerouting of the transmission of election returns to an unlisted server called Data Center 3.

Thus, it said, that given these continued and further violations allegedly committed by the Comelec and recent developments, it is necessary that the supplemental petition be accepted in order to formally apprise the Court of “widespread and well-documented irregularities in the 2025 elections.’

It added: “Whether such manual counting or recount be partial, targeted, or nationwide, Petitioners humbly leave the same to the sound discretion of this Honorable Court, with due regard to the extent of necessity, efficiency, and economy or cost-effectiveness in implementing the pertinent election laws.”