Let's protect Robredo and sanctity of Filipinos' votes for her - De Lima

Senator Leila M. de Lima has called the Filipino people to remain united and vigilant as the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) has yet to rule on former Sen. Bongbong Marcos' electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

De Lima, a known election lawyer before she joined government service, said the Filipinos should protect Robredo and the votes she received from the more than 14 million Filipino voters that rooted for her.

"Let's protect VP Leni and the sanctity of our votes," she said in her recent Dispatch from Crame No. 619.

"The injustices and impunity happening in our midst for the last 3 years must not be compounded by an injustice inflicted upon our sovereign will," she added.

Last Oct. 8, the Supreme Court has once again deferred its ruling on the long-pending electoral protest of Marcos against Robredo. A court insider reportedly said the tribunal reset deliberations anew to October 15.

It has been almost a month since Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa, the member-in-charge of the case, submitted a report to the tribunal regarding the recount of ballots from Marcos' chosen pilot provinces which he claimed best exemplified cases of fraud, including Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

In refusing to accept his loss in the 2016 vice presidential polls to Robredo, Marcos who is a known ally of the Duterte family, filed an electoral protest against her, blaming alleged "massive cheating" behind his defeat by a margin of 263,473 votes.

Based on news reports, the results of the manual recount in the three abovementioned provinces will determine if Marcos' electoral protest will advance to the rest of his contested clustered voting precincts.

Meanwhile, the lady Senator from Bicol asked the Filipino public to join her in praying for a just decision from the Supreme Court in relation to Marcos' electoral protest.

"Let's pray for a just and judicious ruling from the Presidential Electoral Tribunal," she said.

To shed light on speculations that Marcos allegedly won the electoral protest, Robredo's lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, recently filed a motion asking the High Court to "furnish the parties with a copy of the Summary and Committee Reports on the revision, recount and re-appreciation of ballots from the three (3) pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo."

Robredo's camp earlier revealed that unofficial numbers from the recount showed an increase of around 15,000 in her votes after the tribunal ruled to follow the 25 percent shading threshold.