MANILA: The Philippine Supreme Court will allow a protest into the disputed election of the country’s vice president, giving the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos a chance to prove his claim that he was robbed of the number two post.
Social activist Leni Robredo was elected vice president in May 2016, winning by about 260,000 votes over Marcos’ son and namesake. Popularly known as Bongbong, he said he was the rightful winner and votes were stolen from him.
Marcos had asked the court to order a recount of more than a million votes in the south and nullification of balloting in three provinces. Robredo in turn asked the court to reject his petition.
On Thursday, Marcos released the court’s Jan. 24 ruling which found his petition “sufficient in form and substance”.
His lawyer, Victor Rodriguez, said: “We just want the truth to come out. It’s that simple.”
The vice presidency is largely ceremonial and has no official role in the Cabinet unless given a portfolio by the president. However, some political commentators believe Marcos wants the vice presidency as a stepping stone to the top job.
Robredo’s relationship with President Rodrigo Duterte is far from close and he has frequently made jokes in public at her expense. She has been critical of some of his policies, including his deadly war on drugs.
Last year Duterte instructed aides to tell Robredo to cease attending his Cabinet meetings, prompting her to resign as housing minister, while remaining vice president.
Rumours have swirled that Duterte favours Marcos and that while in China last year, he introduced him to officials as the Philippines’ vice president.
Robredo has alleged the same, but has not provided evidence to support it. Duterte has denied he is trying to oust her.
Noting that the ruling only took away the basis of complaints raised by Robredo in August 2016, the Supreme Court’s Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) said that Marcos’ allegations of electoral fraud have yet to be proven.
In an electoral protest that Marcos filed on June 29, 2016, Marcos questioned Robredo’s small margin of victory of 263,473 in the May 2016 polls.
The vote-counting machines of Smartmatic, a private firm hired by the Commission on Elections (Cimelec), transferred votes that were for him to Robredo in 39,000 precincts from 25 provinces and five cities, he added.
Marcos wanted PET to “annul Robredo’s proclamation as VP,” adding he must be declared “the true winner of the vice presidential race”.
In defense, Robredo said the technical problem of Smartmatic should not be held against her, adding that Marcos’ allegations of cheating and vote-buying as a “series of wild accusations, guesses, and surmises”.
In December 2016, Robredo resigned as a housing czar after President Rodrigo Duterte told her not to attend cabinet meetings — she was seen attending rallies that called for Duterte’s resignation because of several issues, including his campaign against illegal drug trade that reached more than 7,000 since July.
“There is an apparent campaign against me,” Robredo said at the time, hinting her rift with Duterte was a sign of the latter’s closeness to Marcos, and his influence over the case.
Duterte defended the November 18, 2016, burial of former Ferdinand Marcos at the National Heroes Cemetery in suburban Taguig. The Supreme Court voted 9-5 on November 11, 2016, saying a law allowed him to be buried at the Heroes cemetery because he was a president, was not dishonourably discharged as a soldier, and was never convicted of plunder (despite being accused of having $10 billion alleged ill-gotten wealth while in power from 1965 to 1986).
