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Friday, January 20, 2017
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MANILA – A lawyer for Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo challenged the camp of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to withdraw their electoral protest if they cannot prove any “massive fraud” during the May 2016 election.
Romulo Macalintal also dared Marcos’ counsels, led by the former senator’s spokesman Vic Rodriguez, to sign with him a deal stating they will give up their licenses should they fail to prove their allegations.
Rodriguez claimed “massive fraud was indeed committed in the last elections” after data was seen in at least 13 of 26 SD cards during decrypting (unlocking) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office on Monday.
But Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said it would be “most prudent” to just wait for the result of the decrypting. The Marcos camp’s statements “appear to be speculative and are, unsurprisingly, consistent with their theory,” he said.
No timeline was set for the completion. The results will be forwarded to the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, said Jimenez.
In a chance interview Macalintal pointed out he is also willing to give up his license to practice law and quit as Robredo’s lead counsel if proven that the fraud caused Marcos to lose by a little more than 200,000 votes.
A veteran election lawyer, Macalintal said the Marcos camp’s statement was “strongly worded,” picturing that Robredo cheated her way to the vice presidency.
“I believe this is the best and most suitable way to put an end to this controversy and for the entire electorate and the Filipino people to find out who is telling the truth — Marcos or Robredo — regarding the alleged data found on these 13 SD cards,” he explained.
Macalintal said they should “apologize to the Filipino people once it is shown and proven that their statement, like a vagrant, had no visible means of legal or factual support as they are baseless and clearly self-serving.” (PNA)
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