Bandila (post-Oreña-Drilon era)

On December 21, 2017, Oreña-Drilon announced that she bid goodbye to Bandila.

On December 25, 2017, the current Bandila 2016 OBB was still used showing still the three remaining anchors prior to the exit of Drilon.

Days after, the current Bandila OBB was shortened as it excludes the part of Drilon.

The World Tonight replaces TWBA and Bandila with Davila, Tony Velasquez and Tina Monzon-Palma. Davila and Velasquez , which would serve as a mini-reunion on television after they did the ABS-CBN Headlines in 2001.

However, was first published in ABS-CBN's website that Tonight with Boy Abunda will be axed. Initially, the host denied these allegations. Boy meanwhile will be moving to afternoon after Magandang Tanghali, Bayan! (replacing It's Showtime) as SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon, as a entertainment news and talk program at 1:30 p.m.

TIMELINE: Marcos-Robredo election case

It's been a year since election day, and also a year since the country saw one of the most nail-biting vice presidential races to date.

Then-Camarines Sur 3rd District representative Leni Robredo, a reluctant politician thrust into the national limelight, went up against then-senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, son and namesake of the late strongman.

Robredo won by only a slim margin. On the eve of Robredo's oath-taking, Marcos filed an election protest, claiming there was massive cheating in the polls.

Aside from dealing with the election protest, Robredo has had other challenges in her first year as vice president – she resigned from the Duterte Cabinet, faced online attacks and rumors, and is now the subject of draft impeachment complaints.

Marcos, as he insists that the vice presidency was "stolen" from him, has been visiting loyalists around the country to thank them for their support during the elections. Even out of office, the former senator updates the public about his activities on social media.

With Robredo and Marcos' legal battle far from over, the two rivals continue to cross paths. Here are the key moments in their election case:

May 6, 2016 – Marcos first floated the idea of cheating in the elections during his miting de avance in Mandaluyong City, where he questioned Robredo's topping the ABS-CBN's survey conducted by Pulse Asia. Other polls at the time showed the two were in a statistical tie.


May 10 to 11, 2016 – At around 3:40 am of May 10, Robredo grabbed the top spot from Marcos in the partial and unofficial canvassing of votes. Shortly after, Marcos' representatives called for a news conference and insinuated that Robredo and the Liberal Party rigged the elections.

The Marcos camp sustained their allegations against Robredo, saying that the transparency server of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was tampered with, as proven by the change in the hash code. This opened debates on the infamous hash code issue and statistical explanations on Robredo's surge over Marcos.

Robredo, from the start, denied the cheating allegations. The Comelec also explained that the altered script was only due to a cosmetic change for names with "ñ" appearing with a "?".

May 20 to 24, 2016 – Marcos' representatives, former Abakada representative Jonathan dela Cruz and lawyer Amor Amorado, filed a series of complaints before the Comelec, seeking an explanation for the script change. They also filed a criminal case against Smartmatic and Comelec representatives before the Manila Prosecutor's Office for allegedly violating the cybercrime law.


May 27, 2016 – Robredo emerged winner in the official canvassing of votes, coincidentally on the birthday of her late husband, former interior secretary Jesse Robredo.

June 29, 2016 – Marcos filed an election protest versus Robredo before the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET). He contested the results in 27 cities and provinces, covering 39,221 "clustered" precincts which are composed of 132,446 "established" precincts. He also sought the nullification of votes in Basilan, Maguindanao, and Lanao del Sur, where massive poll fraud allegedly occurred.

Robredo was sworn in a day after, on June 30, 2016.


July 12, 2016 – The PET ordered the Comelec to safeguard all poll materials in all 92,509 clustered precincts used in the May elections. It also directed Robredo to file her response to Marcos' election protest.

August 15, 2016 – Robredo filed her response and a counter-protest. In her response, the Vice President asked the SC to junk Marcos' protest since the change in the hash code did not affect the election results.

Her lawyers, Romulo Macalintal and Bernadette Sardillo, also argued that Marcos' camp failed to specify how the alleged cheating happened and failed to show evidence of cheating in the Mindanao provinces where he wants votes nullified.

On the same day, the Marcos camp filed a manifestation on the Comelec's proposal to strip vote-counting machines (VCMs) and laptops of election data. The former senator's camp argued that this violated the PET order to preserve election paraphernalia.


September 28, 2016 – Manila City Prosecutor Edward Togonon junked the cybercrime complaint filed by the Marcos camp over the hash code controversy. The case was dismissed for lack of merit and insufficiency of evidence.

October to November 2016 – The Comelec began returning 1,356 leased VCMs to Smartmatic on October 27 despite Marcos' earlier manifestations before the PET, opposing the move. The Comelec had told the PET on October 22 that these were unused VCMs that were given to the poll body for contingency.

The Comelec also started data stripping in its warehouse in Sta Rosa, Laguna on October 26. Data were found in these supposedly unused SD cards, prompting Marcos to ask the PET to order the Comelec to bare the SD cards' contents.

January 20, 2017 – Marcos' lawyer urged the PET to move forward with the election protest by setting a preliminary conference where issues will be simplified.

February 16, 2017 – The PET declared Marcos' protest as sufficient in form and substance, and denied Robredo's appeal to junk Marcos' protest.

February 27, 2017 – Robredo filed a motion for reconsideration on her junked appeal.

March 6, 2017 – Marcos' camp accused Robredo's lawyers of delaying the proceedings. Macalintal has since denied this, saying that they are only correcting the irregularities in Marcos' protest.

April 10, 2017 – The PET ordered Marcos to pay P66 million and Robredo P15.43 million as service fees for the contested precincts. Both were given until April 17 to settle the first installment – P36 million for Marcos and P8 million for Robredo. The second tranche – P30 million for Marcos and P7.5 million for Robredo – is due on July 14.

April 12, 2017 – Robredo's camp filed a motion, asking the PET to defer their payment until an initial recount of votes has been done in 3 provinces to be identified by Marcos. They also argued that Marcos should pay for all the precincts since he is questioning the integrity of the whole automated elections system.

April 17, 2017 – Despite the Marcos camp's earlier pronouncement that they would file a motion for reconsideration on the amount required of them, Marcos paid the first half of the service fee. He said the money was pooled from resources of friends and supporters.

April 20, 2017 – Marcos asked the SC to junk Robredo's counter-protest over non-payment of her service fee.

April 25, 2017 – The PET ordered Robredo to pay the P8-million fee on May 2. It also set the preliminary conference for Marcos' protest on June 21.

May 2, 2017 – Robredo paid the first tranche. She said she used her own money and borrowed cash from relatives.

May 5, 2017 – Robredo asked the PET to remove from its records Marcos' motion to junk her counter-protest over the issue of non-payment.


June 1, 2017 – Marcos once again asks the PET to expedite the process of his election protest. He urges the court to order the decryption and printing of the ballot images from the SD cards used in the 36,465 clustered precincts.

This covers the provinces of Cebu, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Masbate, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Iloilo, Bohol, Quezon, Batangas, Western Samar, Misamis Oriental, Camarines Sur, Palawan, Albay, Zamboanga Sibugay, Misamis Occidental, Pangasinan, and Isabela; plus Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu City, Zamboanga City, and the 2nd District of Northern Samar.

June 6, 2017 – The PET postpones the June 21, 2017 preliminary conference and reset it to July 11, 2017.

On the same day, the PET orders the creation of a panel of commissioners to preside over matters concerning the election case. Retired Justice Jose Vitug was assigned chairperson of the panel with lawyers Angelito Imperio and Irene Ragodon-Guevarra as members.

June 20, 2017 – Robredo's lawyers filed a motion before the PET insisting that Marcos must shoulder the P2.08 billion that the Comelec has incurred because of his election protest.

June 27, 2017 – A group of the Vice President's supporters, named the Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni movement, asked the PET to allow them to pay a portion of her P7-million balance for the election protest.

The petitioners – all awardees of the Ten Outstanding Women Foundation – are former social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman, former human rights commissioner Paulynn Sicam, former Bases Conversion and Development Authority board director Zorayda Amelia Alonzo, award-winning singer Celeste Legaspi-Gallardo, Ateneo de Manila University Press director Karina Bolasco, and Museong Pambata founder Nina Lim-Yuson.

July 5, 2017 – Robredo's lawyers asked the PET to reconsider its earlier decision that the election protest of Marcos is sufficient in form and substance.

July 11, 2017 – Preliminary conference for the electoral protest is held. The PET gives Robredo more time to pay the second tranche of the protest fee required of her. But no new deadline was given yet.

Marcos says in a press conference after the preliminary conference that he is hoping the ballot recount will start by September. Former solicitor general Estelito Mendoza seeks to be a "collaborating counsel" for Marcos.

August 10, 2017 – The PET bars the Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni movement from helping the Vice President pay for her remaining balance in the electoral protest.

August 18, 2017 – The PET grants the Vice President’s motion to defer the second installment of the P16-million fee for the counter-protest she filed against Marcos. The PET says it would direct Robredo to pay the second installment “only after substantial recovery in his (Marcos) designated 3 pilot provinces.”

The court also issues the guidelines in preparation for the ballot revision in the electoral protest.

The document contains the composition and hiring process for the members of the Revision Committee, the creation of an Exploratory Mission or Retrieval Team, and the compensation for individuals who will participate in the revision of the ballots.

August 23, 2017 – The Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni movement files a motion for reconsideration urging the PET to reconsider its decision prohibiting them from helping pay the Vice President's remaining balance.

September 5, 2017 – The PET rejects Marcos' first cause of action in the electoral protest and upholds the integrity of the 2016 elections.

On the same day, Robredo's lawyers files an urgent manifestation and motion calling on the PET to order Marcos to pay P2 billion for the Comelec's continued protection of all poll paraphernalia relevant to his election protest.

October 9, 2017 – Marcos submits 8,000 names in his list of proposed witnesses of alleged electoral fraud in the 3 ARMM provinces.

October 12, 2017 – The Robredo camp accuses Marcos of violating the PET's rules when he sought the technical and forensic examination of election data in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao.

October 23, 2017 – Comelec begins to decrypt and print the ballot images for Marcos' 3 pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

October 30, 2017 – The PET rules Comelec must pay for the storage fees of election materials kept in foreign posts, not Marcos.

November 7, 2017 – The PET defers action once again on whether or not to allow the forensic and technical examination of election data in the 3 ARMM provinces.

The court also allows Robredo to gain access to the soft copies of the ballot images decrypted from secured digital cards in Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

November 21, 2017 – Macalintal accuses Marcos of "misleading" the PET by including names of unregistered voters in its list of proposed witnesses from the 3 ARMM provinces.

November 23, 2017 – Marcos' lawyers shot back that they put in names of members of the Board of Election Inspectors, who "were named as witnesses – and not as registered voters."

December 5, 2017 – The PET rules only municipal treasurers and election officials will deliver the election paraphernalia to the PET Retrieval Team, who will then bring the ballot boxes to the SC-Court of Appeals Gymnasium in Ermita, Manila for the recount.

January 4, 2018 – Robredo files a motion for clarification and asks the PET that both camps be allowed to send representatives during the ballot retrieval process in the 3 pilot provinces.

Will the case be resolved before the next elections in 2022? That's another nail-biting ending to watch out for.

January 10, 2018 – In a press conference, Marcos accuses the PET of giving him "unfair treatment." He also denies he will run for senator in 2019, arguing there is no need for it as he already won as Vice President.

January 29, 2018 – Marcos accused Robredo anew of colluding with Comelec and Smartmatic to steal the poll victory. He argued the square marks in the ballot images point to electoral fraud.

But the marks are merely among the new features of the ballot introduced in 2016.

Last week of January to first week of February – The Marcos and Robredo camps trades barbs on various media interviews, accusing each other of filing motions to allegedly delay the ballot recount process.

February 6, 2018 – Marcos signs a joint manifestation withdrawing any pending motions before the PET that may delay the ballot recount. He challenged Robredo to sign this document, but her camp refused to do so.

February 8, 2018 – The PET sets the final start of the ballot recount on March 19, 2018.

Robredo also files a motion telling the PET they are withdrawing any pending motions that may delay the ballot recount, if any.

February 22, 2018 – The High Court reminds both the Marcos and Robredo camps to observe the sub judice rule and stop making any comments on the pending case.

March 19, 2018 – The recount for Camarines Sur ballots begins

SNIPE SWIPES

My, that was a rather long break there. Here’s hoping all Christians truly had a blessed Holy Week.

PRO(9)-ZamPen turned over four brand new vehicles and equipment to four of its Regional Mobile Forces Battalions, in a move to enhance the anti-crime campaign in their respective areas of operations. Taking from P/Chief Sup Billy Beltran, his deputy, Edwin De Ocampo, headed the turnover rites, where 20 Global Positioning System (GPS) and 50 night vision goggles were also granted.

Although our city is not one of them, it is safe to surmise, our City Police have earlier had its fair share olf thr bargain. This is PRO-9’s homebase, if you please..

X x x x X

The day of reckoning to determine who actually won the 2016 Vice Presidential elections starts tomorrow, Monday, 2 April. The Supreme Court, acting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), is set to proceed with the recount of votes to resolve with finality, who between former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo truly won in the race.

The recount will cover 5,418 clustered precincts in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

The PET bared, media would not be allowed to cover the recount to be conducted daily from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Marcos filed the protest on June 29 2016, claiming that the camp of Robredo cheated in the automated polls in the May 2016 national polls.

Marcos contested the results in 132,446 precincts in clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities. He sought for a recount in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental,. Where Robredo won overwhelmingly under  suspected mysterious circiumsatances..

Robredo, on the other hand also filed a counter-protest, questioning the results in more than 30,000 polling precincts in several provinces where Marcos won.

X x x x X

The Holy See strongly reacted to a reported interview between Pope Francis and an Italian journalist, who later claims the Pope denied the existence of hell, resolutely saying the narration should not be considered an accurate depiction of Francis’ words, but the author’s own “reconstruction.”

A recent meeting between Pope Francis and Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari, 93, was a “private meeting on the occasion of Easter,” without “giving him any interview,” the Vatican statement, dated March 29, adamantly said.

Discounting his overly-advanced age, what else could we expect of the writer? He is a self-proclaimed atheist, founder and former editor of Italian leftist newspaper La Repubblica. In an article published on the site March 29, Scalfari claimed that Pope Francis told him, “hell doesn’t exist, the disappearance of the souls of sinners exists.”

In addition thereto, it was Scalfari’s fifth meeting with Pope Francis, and is not the first time he has been accused of misrepresenting the Pope’s words following a private audience.

In November 2013, following intense controversy over quotes the journalist had attributed to Francis, Scalfari admitted that at least some of the words he had published a month prior “were not shared by the Pope himself.”

Likewise, in a meeting with the journalists of the Foreign Press Association of Rome in 2013, Scalfari maintained that all his interviews have been conducted without a recording device, nor taking notes while the person is speaking.

See, such accounts clearly absolve the Pontiff of any unchristian pronouncement.

The hell with him!

X x x x X

Russia, in venting its ire against the West in an escalating spy row, expelled diplomats from 23 countries in the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory.

The Russian foreign ministry said it had summoned the heads of missions from the concerned 23 countries to tell them of their move.

Among the countries are France, Germany, Canada and Poland, Ukraine, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Finland, Lithuania and Norway were also told to pull their envoys.

The moves also came in retaliation for the coordinated expulsion of Russian diplomats by Britain and its allies over a nerve agent attack against former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

X x x x X

In another advanced move ahead of the trilateral summit among squabbling USA, South Korea and the North, the latter’s Kim Jong Un will meet South’s Pres. Moon Jae-in at a border village on April 27.  And this time the meet in not in secrecy as in the most recent North Korea-China powwow right in Beijing itself.

Pundits then deduced that the rare meeting could prove significant in global efforts to resolve the decades-long standoff over the North’s nuclear program.

And the announcement was jointly issued by officials of the two countries after they met at the border village of Panmunjom. (By Jimmy Cabato)

Marcos: Some ballots wet, audit logs missing in Robredo stronghold

Former senator Bongbong Marcos talks to the media in front of the Supreme Court during the recount of ballots for the previous vice presidential race in Manila on Monday. George Calvelo, ABS CBN News

Some ballots used in the 2016 elections in the home province of Vice President Leni Robredo were doused recently while several audit logs disappeared, former Senator Ferdinand Marcos said Monday.

Marcos made the statement as the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, began a manual recount of votes that he sought to contest his loss to Robredo in the vice presidential race.

The recount started with votes from Bato, Camarines Sur, where all ballots from 4 of the total 42 voting precincts were discovered to have gotten wet recently, making them "illegible", said Marcos.

"They've only been recently wet. If they were wet during election day, siguro natuyo na iyun -- hindi naman siguro 2 years na basa iyun. May nagbasa," Marcos told reporters.

(If they were wet during election day, they would have been dry by now -- they could not be damp for 2 years. Someone drenched them.)

Robredo was representative of Camarines Sur from 2013 to 2016.

Thirty-eight precincts in Bato town also had missing audit logs, which would have shown the time that the votes were transmitted, said Marcos.

"Clearly, somebody, binuksan ang ballot box, kinuha ang audit log bago ini-seal ulit," he alleged.

(Clearly, somebody opened the ballot box, took the audit log and re-sealed it.)

"We're going to have to find a way to recover those audit logs somehow... Baka naman (perhaps) it's possible that those audit logs are still in the database of some other computer," he added.

Marcos, 60, had claimed "massive cheating" caused him to lose to Robredo in the 2016 vice-presidential race by some 260,000 votes.

Victory in Marcos' poll protest would cement his family's remarkable political comeback, 31 years after a "People Power" revolution saw millions of people take to the streets to end his father's 20-year rule.

Presidential Electoral Tribunal begins recount of vice presidential votes

The vote recount for the 2016 vice presidential election began Monday.

Vice President Leni Robredo attended Mass on Monday ahead of the ballot recount by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).

"The recount starts today. Yesterday was Easter, and the biggest lesson is, 'There is always hope in the midst of darkness,'" she said, speaking at St. Scholastica's College in Manila.

She is confident despite what she calls a difficult opponent and trying times.

"Sa dulo ng lahat, parating katotohanan ang mananaig... Wala tayong dapat ikatakot dahil katotohanan ang ating ipinaglalaban. This is the time of fear, pero manalig tayo," she said.

[Translation: In the end, truth will prevail. We shall not fear because we are fighting for the truth. This is the time of fear, but we shall keep our faith.]

The Marcos camp said they are also ready for the recount.

"We are very optimistic because we have waited for two years," Marcos' legal counsel Vic Rodriguez said.

Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te on Monday said the manual poll recount will "ascertain the number of votes received by both parties."

The recount begins two years after Marcos brought his electoral protest to the Supreme Court, sitting as the PET. He lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes.

The recount will happen at a gymnasium in the Supreme Court compound in Manila. This is the first time the PET will be doing a recount. The process is off-limits to media.

Rodriguez said Monday morning, the physical condition of ballot boxes and its locks will be checked. The manual recount will begin in the afternoon.

Te said the poll recount will be held Monday to Friday. The morning session will be from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m, the afternoon session from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Te said the recount will follow a "strict time limit."

Since the implementation of the automated elections in 2010, Robredo's legal counsel Romulo Macalintal said electoral protests had been dismissed because the results of the manual ballot count tallied exactly with that of the vote-counting machines (VCMs) and the consolidated canvassing system.

"Sa kasaysayan ng ating automated election system, wala pang nananalong protesta sa halalan mula pa noong 2010," Macalintal said.

[Translation: In the history of the automated election system since 2010, there has not been a successful election protest.]

Marcos' camp, meanwhile, took a swipe at Robredo for her alleged moves to delay the poll count.

"We have endured two years of waiting due to Robredo's habitual and intentional moves to delay the election protest and deliberate attempts to bury the truth," Marcos' spokesperson Vic Rodriguez said in a statement Sunday.

He also said the recount will once and for all dispel "all the uncertainty that beclouds the true choice of the electorate and prove that Mrs. Robredo cheated her way to the Vice Presidency."

In its grant of Marcos' plea, the PET decided upon Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental as the pilot provinces for the ballot recount.

Marcos identified the three provinces as "best exemplifying fraud or irregularities" in his protest brief.

Robredo also listed three provinces in her own counter-protest brief: Capiz, Sulu, and North Cotabato.

The recount in the three pilot provinces identified by Marcos will take up to six months.

Robredo said the protest of Marcos is based on general allegations and manufactured evidence designed to sway results in his favor.

Marcos had also questioned the appearance of "mysterious squares" on ballot images beside Robredo's name, saying it was a proof of fraud.

However, Robredo's camp had explained the squares are the vote-counting machines' way of recognizing a shade on the circle next to the candidate.

The PET has earlier required Marcos to pay P66 million and Robredo P15 million in two tranches to fund their protests and counter-protests. A petitioner needs to pay P500 per contested precinct.

Tedious process
The PET adhoc committee said it can set up only 40 committees on Monday. But they are hoping to open 10 more.

Each committee is composed of a head revisor — a PET employee — and one representative for each of the two candidates.

Head revisors are carefully picked as the revision committees face a huge task which would be performed within a given time frame.

They must process the results of over 5,000 clustered precincts from three pilot provinces chosen by Marcos.

In places where there are less than 300 ballots, they must finish the recount in five and a half hours. For 300 to 699 ballots, they only have a little more than eight hours. And for more than 700 ballots, they are given 11 hours.

Should there be objections or claims by either of the parties, the PET would have the last say.

The tribunal would only issue announcements should the need arise.

CNN Philippines digital producer Ver Marcelo contributed to this report.

Have no fear! Robredo confident of vote recount results: Truth shall prevail

Vice President Leni Robredo has expressed confidence about the outcome of the manual recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential race as part of the poll protest filed by former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Before the recount began Monday (April 2), Robredo urged her supporters to fear nothing because truth is on their side.

“Siguro to all our supporters and our friends who are here today, pinapasabi din ng ating lawyers na wala tayong dapat ikatakot. Wala tayong dapat ikatakot kasi katotohanan ang ating ipinaglalaban,” she said during the mass held at St. Scholastica’s College in Manila.



Robredo said she chose to hold a eucharistic celebration before the recount started to seek strength, wisdom and guidance from God.

“This mass is precisely for that– sinasabi natin na we’re lifting everything to the Lord. Walang dapat ikatakot, walang dapat ikahina ng loob,” she said.

The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, will start the recount by checking ballots from Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental– the three pilot provinces identified by Marcos.

The recount will take place at the gymnasium at the 5th Floor of the SC-Court of Appeals (CA) Building in Padre Faura, Manila.

Robredo won by over 200,000 votes against Marcos.

The former senator, however, has claimed that he lost because of cheating.

Leni vs Bongbong: VP vote recount starts

Former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and Vice-President Leni Robredo. File/Composite

The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), started on Monday the recount of votes for the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. against Vice-President Leni Robredo.

Marcos had claimed "massive cheating" caused him to lose to Robredo in the 2016 vice-presidential race by some 260,000 votes. The ballots, which were counted by machine, will be tallied again manually by the PET.

The vote recount Marcos sought will first cover the pilot areas of his protest: the provinces of Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo, all known bailiwicks of Robredo, the PET had said.

It was the first time that PET held an actual recount of votes since the body was created by the 1987 Constitution to tackle electoral protests in the presidential and vice presidential races.

The manual count was held at the SC-Court of Appeals Gymnasium on Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila.

Robredo has a pending counter-protest case against Marcos, also with the PET. It covers 31,278 precincts while Marcos’ protest covers 132,446 precincts.

The Vice President's camp last week signed a motion to withdraw all pending pleadings before the PET to avoid delays in the recount.

Marcos, on the other hand, signed a manifestation to withdraw pending motions and not to file more pleas to avoid possible delays.

Victory in Marcos' poll protest would cement his family's remarkable political comeback, 31 years after a "People Power" revolution saw millions of people take to the streets to end his father's 20-year rule.

Robredo on VP ballot recount: 'Have no fear, we fight for truth'

(UPDATED) 'This is a time of fear, fear of what is going to happen next, pero manalig tayo.... 'Wag paghinaan ng loob,' Vice President Leni Robredo tells her supporters

(UPDATED) 'This is a time of fear, fear of what is going to happen next, pero manalig tayo.... 'Wag paghinaan ng loob,' Vice President Leni Robredo tells her supporters

(UPDATED) – Vice President Leni Robredo reassured her supporters they have nothing to be afraid of as the ballot recount for the electoral protest filed against her begins on Monday, April 2.

The Vice President delivered a 6-minute speech after attending a multi-sectoral Mass organized by the Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance around two hours before the Supreme Court (SC), acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), kicked off the ballot recount.

Robredo likened her message for her supporters gathered at St Scholastica's College Manila's chapel to the day's Gospel message of hope on Jesus Christ's resurrection. (READ: Robredo on Easter: Unite amid threats to democracy)

"Kaya siguro to all our supporters and our friends who are here today, 'yung pinapasabi din ng ating mga lawyers: Wala tayong dapat ikatakot. Wala tayong dapat ikatakot kasi katotohanan ang ating ipinaglalaban," said the Vice President.

(This is perhaps my message to our supporters and our friends who are here today, the same message our lawyers want to convey: We have nothing to fear. Have no fear for we are fighting for the truth.)

HEARING MASS. Vice President Leni Robredo sits beside her lawyer Romulo Macalintal and Sister Mary John Mananzan from the Order of St Benedict. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler

She acknowledged her supporters have many reasons to fear. The electoral protest she is facing was filed by former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. (READ: TIMELINE: Marcos-Robredo election case)

Robredo had also resigned in December 2016 as housing czar of President Rodrigo Duterte, who had barred her from attending Cabinet meetings. Duterte, a known ally of the Marcoses, supported the hero's burial for the late strongman.

But the Vice President remains hopeful about the results of the ballot recount.

SUPPORT SYSTEM. Vice President Leni Robredo greets her supporters after the Mass. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler

"This is a time of fear, fear of what is going to happen next, pero manalig tayo. Gawin lang 'yung dati na nating ginagawa. 'Wag paghinaan ng loob. Maraming limitasyon, pero sa liit ng mundo natin ngayon, kailangan tayo. Kailangan tayo para patuloy na magbigay ng liwanag," said Robredo.

(This is a time of fear, fear of what's going to happen next, but have faith. Keep on doing what you have been doing. Do not let your resolve be weakened. There are many limitations, but given how small the world is, we are needed. We need to keep on going to continue giving light.)

"Kasi kung tayo mismo ang umayaw, lalong didilim ang paligid, and so many people are looking up to us, for us to fight for them. Kaya patuloy lang tayo," she added.

(Because if we will give up, the world will be darker, and so many people are looking up to us, for us to fight for them. Let us keep on going.)

Robredo's speech was heard by nuns from the Order of Saint Benedict, her legal team led by lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Bernadette Sardillo, and her supporters who were clad in white.

Her lawyers also participated in the Mass, with Macalintal reading the First Reading and Sardillo joining the offertory.

The Vice President's legal team was also blessed by Fr Ted Gonzales, who celebrated the Mass, and other priests present.

BLESSED. Vice President Robredo's legal team receives a blessing during the Mass. Photo by LeAnne Jazul/Rappler

Robredo beat Marcos by only 263,473 votes in the 2016 polls, leading the latter to allege cheating and to file the electoral protest against her two years ago.

Marcos is seeking to recount ballots from 36,465 clustered precincts and also nullify votes in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, and Maguindanao. His bid to question the integrity of the 2016 elections as a whole was already junked by the PET.

Robredo, meanwhile, filed a counter-protest, which seeks to recount ballots from 30,000 polling precincts in various provinces where Marcos won.

On Monday, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Malacañang welcomes the ballot recount.

"The Palace welcomes the recount para ma-settle na 'yang long-festering dispute na 'yan (so the long-festering dispute will finally be settled). This is a judicial matter, this is before the PET already, so we leave it to the coequal branch to handle that," said Guevarra.

Manual recount for Marcos poll protest vs. Robredo begins

The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), on Monday started the manual recount for the electoral protest of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo.

"The principal objective of this exercise is to ascertain the number of votes received by both parties in the May 9, 2016 national elections through a manual recount of the votes," the PET said in a statement as it started the manual recount.

Under Rule 65 of the 2010 PET Rules, the recount -- or revision, in PET terms -- will be limited to three pilot provinces that Marcos had chosen -- Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental -- covering 5,418 clustered precincts.

"The results of the revision of the pilot provinces shall thereafter determine whether the instant protest will proceed with the remaining 31,047 protested clustered precincts, again following Rule 65 of the 2010 PET rules," the PET explained.

Reiterating what the PET's adhoc committee told reporters last week, the statement laid down the ground rules for the revision process, which had been postponed multiple times.

The revision schedule will run from Mondays to Fridays, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, at the Supreme Court-Court of Appeals gymnasium, which has been converted into the Revision Hall.

Each of the 40 existing revision committees will be composed of one Head Revisor, who is an employee of the PET, and one revisor each from Marcos and Robredo's respective teams.

The PET is targetting to form a total of 50 revision committees.

The revision committees will be placed under a "strict" time limit for the completion of the revision of one ballot box.

The PET said that for boxes containing 300 or less ballots, the revision has to be finished within 5.5 hours.

For boxes containing 300 and 700 ballots, the revision time limit is 8.25 hours, and for those containing more than 700 ballots, the time limit is 11 hours.

The Head Revisor's duty is to segregate and examine the contents of each ballot box, determine the number of votes received by Marcos and Robredo. Meanwhile, the party representatives are allowed to claim and object to ballots as they see fit.

"If the revision committee fails to comply with the time limit, they shall proceed to revise another ballot box and the parties shall be deemed to have waived their right to claim or object to the remaining ballots," the statement said.

Malacañang welcomed the start of the recount process, saying this will settle the "long festering dispute" regarding the result of the 2016 vice presidential race.

"The Palace welcomes the recount para ma-settle na 'yang long festering dispute na 'yan. Other than that, this is a judicial matter, this is before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal already so we leave it to the co-equal branch to handle that," Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra said at a news conference.

President Rodrigo Duterte is a political ally of the Marcoses, whose patriarch, the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani on Nov. 18, 2016 following support from Duterte himself and later, the SC.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in the May 2016 election.

The former senator filed his electoral protest a day before Robredo formally took office. with Virgil Lopez/ALG, GMA News

Youth group sues Mocha Uson for ‘grave misconduct, serious dishonesty’

A group of youth leaders on Monday called for the removal and dismissal from service of Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson as they filed an administrative complaint against her for supposedly spreading disinformation.

In a 10-page complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, student leaders of Akbayan Youth charged Uson with grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service for allegedly spreading fake information on various media platforms while serving as assistant secretary in the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).

"Naniniwala kami na hindi siya karapat-dapat sa posisyon niya at sa sweldo niya bilang assistant secretary ng PCOO. Kaya po ang panawagan namin ngayon ay patalsikin si Mocha sa kanyang posisyon," Shamah Bulangis, one of the complainants, said.

The group cited Uson's act of making public arbitrary ascertainment of facts that caused cyberbullying attacks against students of St. Scholastica's College. They said her stay at the PCOO is "a threat to the security" of people opposed to the administration.

The group said Uson allegedly spread misinformation through a blogpost in November 2016 that says students from St. Scholastica's College were required to attend a protest rally.

"This unreasonable and unfair act of Uson—of posting  false accusations against the school without verifying the accuracy of the information—led to cyberbullying attacks directed against students of St. Scholastica’s College," the complaint read.

"Following this, there is no doubt that Uson is a threat to the security of people that voice their criticism against the government," it added.

The group also said Uson is incompetent to hold her current position, as she shows gross ignorance of the provisions of the Constitution and the Philippine geography as well.

They cited Uson's statement in her January 2018 video blog where she stated that Mayon Volcano, which was then on high alert status, was in Naga City, causing "confusion to Filipinos."

Naga City is in Camarines Sur and the volcano is in Albay province.

"Clearly, Uson is grossly incompetent to convey the right information to guide the Filipino public," the complaint said.

Aside from this, the group said Uson committed gross dishonesty by deliberately using misleading statements.

They said that in August 2017, Uson dared several opposition public officials to visit the wake of slain police Senior Inspector Mark Garcia even as the policeman died a year earlier.

They also cited Uson's photograph of Honduran military forces "to convey misinformation," making it appear that it was a photograph of the Philippine military.

Lastly, the group accused Uson of using her powers to stifle oppositors of the administration which, they said, is "contrary to the Constitution."

They cited Uson's allegations that Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has offshore bank accounts, and her act of calling Vice President Leni Robredo "bobo" at least five times on live radio.

Uson has yet to reply to GMA News Online's request for reaction to the filig of the complaints against her.

The complainants include Samantha Julia Eala, Raymond John Naguit, Misha Borbon, Jonathan Austria, Angel Ruben Roxas, Hernan Delizo, Roman Romero, Basilio Enrique Claudio and Kisha Beringuela.

Trillanes, in September 2017, also filed a complaint against Uson for allegedly spreading fake news over his supposed offshore bank accounts.

Akbayan Youth also filed a complaint against Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II in July 2017, also for supposedly spreading fake news. —with Virgil Lopez/ALG, GMA News

Sack Mocha for spreading fake news, youth leaders ask Ombudsman

FIRE MOCHA. Members of the Akbayan Youth hold a protest at the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City on Monday, April 2, 2018, as the group files a complaint against PCOO Asst. Sec. Mocha Uson for spreading fake news. The organization asks for Uson’s “removal from office and dismissal from service” over grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service. They say Uson has been a “source of numerous and deliberate misinformation.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Grig C. Montegrande)

Youth and student leaders filed on Monday an administrative complaint against Presidential Communications Assistant Secretary Esther Margaux “Mocha” Uson for allegedly using her position to proliferate “fake news” and silence the critics of the government.

In the 10-page complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Akbayan Youth sought for Uson’s “removal from office and dismissal from service” over grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service.

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“Asec. Mocha is one of the biggest purveyors of disinformation in this government. We are drawing the line versus Mocha and all other government officials who lie to the public,” said Shahmah Bulangis, co-convenor of Youth Resist, which is part of Akbayan Youth.

“Hindi tanga ang mga Pinoy. Wala na silang maloloko sa kanilang mapang-abusong panloloko. Kailangan na siyang matanggal sa pwesto,” she added.

Before the filing, youth and student leaders carried protest signs and coffee cups with faces of Uson with the call #FireMocha.

“Public service is no joke. Our taxes are wasted on public officials whose only jobs are to lie to the Filipino people,” said Bas Claudio, secretary general of Akbayan Youth UP Diliman.

“Disinformation only helps the Duterte dictatorship. Ang tao ang talo sa fake news,” said Nathan Austria, a student leader from the University of Sto. Tomas.

Despite being appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as a Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) assistant secretary on May 8, 2017, Uson maintains a public and open blog called “Mocha Uson Blog.”

She also has a radio/television segment in radio station DZRH.

Akbayan Youth members said her online and public persona have been a “source of numerous and deliberate misinformation.”

This, the group said, is contrary to the mandate of the PCOO to “ensure transparency and full and appropriate disclosure of policies, programs, official activities, and achievements of the Office of the President and the Executive Branch which are of public concern, and to inform and communicate the same to the Filipino people.”

The group also accused Uson of being a threat to the security of people who express their criticisms against the government, citing an instance when she made “public arbitrary ascertainment of facts which resulted to cyberbullying attacks against students who were in their right to peacefully protest.”

They cited that in November 2016, Uson posted a blog, purveying “false accusations” and “misinformation” that students of St. Scholastica’s College were required to attend a protest rally.

The youth organization also asserted that Uson is “not competent to discharge her functions as a public officer,” and commits “gross dishonesty by deliberately using misleading statements.”

The group said Uson’s blog posts citing non-existent “Article 263 of the Philippine Constitution,” and her video blog where she erroneously said Mayon volcano was in Naga City, have caused “misinformation and confusion to Filipinos.”

The Assistant Secretary, they said, also dared some opposition officials to visit the wake of a slain law enforcement officer even though the officer had already died more than a year before Uson made her demand.

The group also cited that in May 2017, Uson referred to and used a photograph of Honduran military forces on a post referring to Philippine military forces.

Moreover, Akbayan Youth pointed out Uson “uses her powers for the improper purpose of stifling dissenting officials from the opposition, an action which is contrary to the Constitution.”

According to the group, Uson clearly demonstrated this when she alleged that opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV has offshore bank accounts, and when she called Vice President Leni Robredo “bobo” during a radio program.

Shortly after the filing of the complaint, Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra defended Uson, saying he believes she is not a purveyor of misinformation.

“To tell you frankly di ko naman binabasa lahat ng mga sa mga (I am not reading all these) blogs. I don’t have much time to go over these things. She’s consistently denied it so I’ll take her word for it as a fellow worker, I’ll take her word for it,” he said in a press briefing.

In 2017, Trillanes similarly hurled seven criminal and administrative charges against Uson for spreading “fake news” about his supposed offshore bank accounts.

Akbayan Youth wants Ombudsman to boot Mocha out of office

By Xave Gregorio

Akbayan Youth asked the Office of the Ombudsman to remove from office and dismiss Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson for her incompetence and for spreading false information.

The youth arm of opposition solons Rep. Tom Villarin and Senator Risa Hontiveros’ party filed an administrative case against Uson on Monday (April 2) for grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.



“Asec. Uson is one of the biggest purveyors of disinformation in this government. We are drawing the line versus Mocha and all other government officials who lie to the public,” Shamah Bulangis, one of the complainants and co-convenor of opposition group Youth Resist.

Student leaders from Akbayan Youth said in their complaint that Uson’s actions run counter to the mandate of the PCOO.

In the complaint, they said Uson caused students to be cyberbullied after she claimed on her Facebook page Mocha Uson Blog that students of St. Scholastica’s College were required to attend a protest.

“This unreasonable and unfair act of Uson—of posting false accusations against the school without verifying the accuracy of the information—led to cyberbullying attacks directed against students of St. Scholastica’s College,” Akbayan Youth said in their complaint.

They further alleged that Uson’s actions were the “direct cause of oppression against innocent students.”

“There is no doubt that Uson is a threat to the security of people that voice their criticism against the government,” they said.

They also said Uson is unfit for the post as she has shown “gross ignorance” of the Constitution and of Philippine geography.

Uson became the subject of ridicule on social media after she cited “Article 263” of the Constitution, which only consists of 18 articles. She was also made fun of when she said that the famous Mayon Volcano in Albay was in Naga City, which Akbayan Youth said caused “confusion.”

Akbayan Youth also alleged that Uson committed gross dishonesty by deliberately using misleading statements, citing her dare to opposition politikos to visit the wake of a policeman who has been dead for a year and her use of a picture of Honduran military forces to represent the Philippine military.

They also cited Uson’s allegations against opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV that he has offshore bank accounts and her calling of Vice President Leni Robredo as “bobo” on her radio show as examples of how the assistant secretary uses her position to “stifle dissent” from opposition politikos.

This is the second complaint filed against Uson in relation her spreading false information online. Trillanes has previously filed criminal and administrative charges against Uson in September 2017 over her allegations that he owned foreign bank accounts.

Akbayan Youth UP Diliman secretary general Bas Claudio, one of the complainants against Uson, said taxes are “wasted on public officials whose only jobs are to lie to the Filipino people.”

“If Mocha can’t stop clowning around by systematically lying to the people, then she shouldn’t stay in government,” Claudio said.

Meanwhile, Nathan Austria, a student leader from the University of Santo Tomas who is also among the 14 complainants, said disinformation “only helps the Duterte dictatorship.”

“This is just the start. We aim to hold all the fools in government accountable for abusing their power and betraying the trust of the Filipino people,” Austria said.

Other complainants are Samantha Julia Legaspi, Raymond John Sarita Naguit, Misha Borbon, Angel Ruben Rodis Roxas, Gemina Bianca Dela Cruz, Hernan Joseph Delizo, Ramon Miguel Romero, Theresa Diana Peña, Patricia Guiang Nicdao, Kisha Marielle Caybot Beringuela, and Lorenzo Miguel Angeles Relente.

Vice presidency poll recount to begin today

The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), begins today the manual recount of votes cast in three provinces for the vice presidential race in 2016, the results of which were contested by former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Former Camarines Sur representative Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo had been declared winner of that election, beating Marcos by 263,473 votes.

The recount of votes will be held at the gymnasium on the Fifth Floor of the SC-Court of Appeals (CA) Building on Padre Faura, Manila.

The recount had been originally scheduled for February but was moved back to March 19, and then again to April 2.

The recount will be conducted from 8.30am to 4.30pm from today until Friday under the watch of the tribunal’s clerk of court, Edgar Aricheta.

Ma. Carina Cunanan, head of the Property Division and PET Ad Hoc Committee member, said the SC’s 101 security personnel will be augmented to secure the proceedings.

Security will be tight. Members of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard and Police Security Protection Group will secure the recount venue round-the-clock.

The PET has about 1,400 ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, one of Marcos’ chosen pilot provinces for the recount.

The other ballot boxes are with the Commission on Elections.

Once the PET has finished counting the contents of the 1,400 ballot boxes, it will receive the other ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

Jose Lemuel Arenas, another PET Ad Hoc committee member, said for each table, there will be three revisors composed of the head revisor, an employee of PET, and one revisor each from the Marcos and Robredo camps.

Psychometricians, revisors, lawyers and representatives from the two camps will make up the 213 personnel who will be reporting daily to the PET during the counting process.

Arenas said the time limit per ballot box with less than 300 votes will be 5.5 hours, 8.25 hours for boxes with 300-700 votes and 11 hours for boxes with more than 700 votes.

Marcos questioned the election results in 39,221 clustered precincts but he paid only for the recount of votes in 36,465 precincts. He claimed that the vice presidential election was marred with massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities such as preshading of ballots, pre-loaded Secure Digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning VCMs, and an “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/undervotes.

The former lawmaker claimed that his team gathered “solid and incontrovertible evidence of cheating” while going through the printed ballot images from the decrypted Secure Digital (SD) cards.

This include samples of questionable ballot images from two of his pilot provinces, Camarines Sur and Negros Oriental, which showed that votes for him were not counted. Yesterday, Marcos’ camp said it was looking forward to the start of the manual recount.

“We have endured two years of waiting due to Robredo’s habitual and intentional moves to delay the election protest and deliberate attempts to bury the truth,” Marcos said in a statement.

His lawyer, Vic Rodriguez, said Marcos’ poll protest is historic because it was the first to have reached the recount stage.

He said the conclusion of the recount will determine the winner of the vice presidential contest. “This will dispel once and for all the uncertainty that beclouds the true choice of the electorate and prove that Robredo cheated her way to the vice presidency,” the statement read.

“Finally, we have reached the day when manual recount would finally commence and we very much look forward to its final conclusion to determine the bona fide winner,” the Marcos camp added.

Robredo’s camp, meanwhile, said it does not fear the recount of votes.

“We are confident and we have nothing to fear about the recount. There is no doubt that Vice President Robredo won the 2016 elections,” Romulo Macalintal, one of Robredo’s legal counsels, said in a statement.

“This recount will prove Vice President Robredo’s 2016 win and will expose that Marcos’ accusations are all lies,” Macalintal added.

Robredo: Poll recount fight for truth

VICE President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo said the poll recount for the 2016 Vice Presidential race starting today would be a fight for the truth.

The recount stemmed from a protest filed by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. against Robredo, alleging fraud, in the 2016 vice presidential elections.

“This recount is, in a way, providential. The message of Easter is hope…hope that there will be light at the end of the tunnel; that the truth will prevail. When I started this journey, a lot of people thought that this [Vice Presidential] bid is hopeless. But we continued fighting because we believed we are doing the right thing. And we won, and we know that we are fighting for the truth here [in this poll recount],” Robredo said in a speech after a mass organized by her supporters at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, the start of the recount in Camarines Sur, Negros Oriental and Iloilo.

These were the provinces chosen by Marcos as “best exemplifying poll fraud” in accordance with the rules set by the Supreme Court acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET).


“The fight is tough, the times are hard, but this has always been the lesson of my life. Everything came hard, but in the end, the light comes in. There is nothing to fear in this fight for the truth. This is the time of fear…fear of what is going to happen next…but we should have faith, continue the fight,” Robredo said.

“There are limitations, and we need to continue shining the light in darkness because if we quit, darkness will get worse. Many people are looking up to us to fight for them, that’s why we will soldier on,” said Robredo.

Robredo’s lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, for his part, is confident of Robredo’s chances that he is willing to give up lawyering if they lose.

“I will surrender my license to practice as a lawyer if Vice President Robredo loses this case,” Macalintal said.

“There are those who are asking me, ‘Do we have a chance?’ The right question would be, do they (Marcos’ camp) have a chance?,” Macalintal said.

Chanting Bongbong supporters flock to SC on Day 1 of VP votes recount

Supporters of former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. gathered in front of the Supreme Court (SC) in Manila on the first day of the manual recount in his poll protest against Vice President Leni Robredo.

At least 200 supporters, wearing red shirts and Marcos-printed bandanas and chanting "B-B-M," the moniker of the defeated vice presidential candidate, flocked in front of the high tribunal's gate as of 9 a.m..

The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has designated April 2 as the beginning of the manual vote recount in the three pilot provinces that Marcos has chosen: Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

The recount covers a total of 5,418 clustered precincts, the results of which will determine whether or not Marcos' protest will proceed with the remaining 31,047 protested clustered precincts.

The gymnasium of the SC-Court of Appeals has been converted into the Revision Hall, which will house a target number of 50 revision committees from Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m..

As of Monday, the PET has only completed the hiring of 40 head revisors.

Marcos lost to Robredo by 263,473 votes in the May 2016 election which the former senator claimed was marred by fraud. —ALG, GMA News

VP ballot recount begins today

The Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) is set to start this morning its manual recount and revision of ballots in three provinces identified by former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his protest against Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (left) and Vice President Leni Robredo

Set for manual recount and revision are ballots in 1,400 boxes which have been retrieved by the PET, composed of all Supreme Court (SC) justices, from the provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

Three members of an ad hoc committee have been designated by the PET to oversee 50 sets of revisors which will do the manual recount and revision at the 5th floor of the SC-Court of Appeals building on Padre Faura St., Ermita, Manila

With Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno on indefinite leave, Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio is the acting chief justice and acting head of the PET.

Members of the PET’s adhoc committee are lawyers Jose Lemuel S. Arenas, Edgar O. Aricheta, and Ma. Carina M. Cunanan.

Historic recount

Today’s manual recount and revision of votes in an election protest would be the first for the PET. Earlier election protest such as the 2004 presidential contest between then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. did not reach the recount stage.

Based on election results, Robredo was declared winner in the vice presidential race with 14,418,817 votes or 263,473 more than the 14,155,344 votes garnered by Marcos.

Robredo also filed a counter-protest against Marcos. The two cases have been consolidated by the PET.

A set of revisors per table would be composed of the head revisor (an employee of PET) and one each representing Marcos and Robredo.

Based on the schedule set by PET, the recount and revision will be done daily from Monday to Friday and will start at 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., with two 15-minute breaks and a one-hour lunch break.

The PET has set the time limit per ballot box. For less than 300 ballots, the time allotted is 5.5 hours; 300 to 700 ballots, 8.25 hours; and more than 700 ballots, 11 hours.

It is expected that more than 200 persons would be present daily during the recount and revision of ballots. Sixty of them are employees of the PET.

Members of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Police Security Protection Group and PET guards have been tasked to provide security.

Mass for Leni

Meanwhile, Robredo and her supporters will gather in a multi-sectoral Mass this morning at 6:15, before the PET conducts its ballot recount.

The venue will be at St. Scholastica’s Chapel on Leon Guinto in Malate, Manila, according to a media advisory from the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

It was the non-governmental organization Kaya Natin Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, which was established by Vice President’s late husband and Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, organized the Mass.

Kaya Natin had actively campaigned for its founder’s widow in the May 2016 elections.

Robredo will hear the mass, along with her lawyers Romulo Macalintal and Bernadette Sardillo. Senators, who belong to the erstwhile ruling Liberal Party, are likely to attend.

“Her legal team will then proceed to the Supreme Court for the start of the recount,” OVP said.

The camp of Robredo has been looking forward to the start of the recount because they said this will vindicate the Vice President from the “baseless accusation” of Marcos that she and the LP had cheated in the 2016 polls.

Ahead of the recount, Robredo said she felt relieved the PET will now begin the revision proceedings.

“Relief ito para sa amin. Matagal na naming hinihintay na magsimula na iyong recount, Kasi ang pakiramdam nga namin, nagkakaroon lang ng pagkakataon na gamitin iyong isyung ito para i-muddle kung ano iyong katotohanan (This is a relief for us. We have waited for the long time for the recount to start because we feel there will be an opportunity for the issue being used to muddle the truth),” she said.

Macalintal is confident that the recount will validate Robredo’s victory in the vice-presidential race. (With a report from Raymund F. Antonio)

Palawan congressmen want province split into 3

All three lawmakers from Palawan, the Philippines’ largest and westernmost province from which the country’s South China Sea claims are administered, have proposed to divide it into three separate provinces to “bring closer expanded services to areas not previously served.”

House Bill No. 7413, filed on March 15 by Representatives Franz Alvarez, Frederick Abueg and Gil Acosta, would divide the towns outside independent Puerto Princesa City into the proposed provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur.

The municipality of Kalayaan, which covers the Philippine-claimed features in the resource-rich but hotly contested Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, would form part of Palawan del Sur.

Division of wealth

Shares from the proceeds from the development and use of national wealth, including those gained from the Philippine’s maritime zone that is claimed by China, would be “divided equally” among the three provinces and “automatically released.”

The bill defines national wealth to include “all natural resources situated along the West Philippine Sea extending up to the limits of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) or extended continental shelf.”

The Philippines’ 370-kilometer EEZ in the South China Sea is officially known as West Philippine Sea.

The share of the proposed provinces would be based on whichever of two formulas would yield the higher amount: 1 percent of the gross receipts from the preceding calendar year, or 40 percent of the taxes, royalties and charges that the pertinent government agencies and corporations would have paid if they were not exempted.

Besides that, the proposed provinces would “have a combined share of not less than 40 percent of the gross collection derived by the national government” from mining taxes, royalties, forestry and fishery charges, and administrative charges. This would be on top of the internal revenue allotment.

According to the explanatory note, Palawan, whose oil and natural gas reserves account for 45 percent of Luzon’s electricity supply, has been hard-pressed to deliver basic services due to its sheer size—14,896.55 square kilometers. Its length from north to south is 500 km.

Palawan del Norte

Under the bill, the northern and eastern areas currently covered by Palawan’s first district, represented by Alvarez, would be split into two provinces with one representative each to the House of Representatives.

Palawan del Norte’s capital would be Taytay. Municipalities north of it—the tourist destinations of El Nido, Busuanga, Coron, Culion and Linapacan—would fall under the proposed province.

Palawan Oriental would comprise Roxas as the capital, as well as the mainland towns of San Vicente, Dumaran and Araceli, and the far-flung island municipalities of Agutaya, Cuyo, Magsaysay and Cagayancillo (which includes Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park).

The remote municipalities south and west of Puerto Princesa City (which is actually an independent city even though it is currently the provincial capital), would be part of Palawan del Sur.

Palawan del Sur would comprise Brooke’s Point as the capital, as well as the municipalities of Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Sofronio Española, Rizal, Bataraza, Balabac and Kalayaan.

Except for Aborlan, these municipalities are currently part of the second district represented by Abueg.

2nd district to be enlarged

The bill would actually enlarge the current second district, because Aborlan, a municipality currently within Acosta’s third district, would be transferred.

The third district would become the slightly smaller but stand-alone district of the highly urbanized city of Puerto Princesa, which would not be a capital or part of any of the three proposed provinces.

The first elections for the new provincial government officials and the representatives of the reformed districts would be on May 9, 2022.

Besides this measure, two other pending bills (HB 5040 and HB 5185) have been filed in the 17th Congress to create the provinces of Zamboanga Hermosa and Maguindanao North in Mindanao.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/979501/palawan-congressmen-want-province-split-into-3

Qatar- Vice presidency poll recount to begin today

The Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), begins today the manual recount of votes cast in three provinces for the vice presidential race in 2016, the results of which were contested by former senator Ferdinand 'Bongbong Marcos Jr.

Former Camarines Sur representative Maria Leonor 'Leni Robredo had been declared winner of that election, beating Marcos by 263,473 votes.

The recount of votes will be held at the gymnasium on the Fifth Floor of the SC-Court of Appeals (CA) Building on Padre Faura, Manila.

The recount had been originally scheduled for February but was moved back to March 19, and then again to April 2.

The recount will be conducted from 8.30am to 4.30pm from today until Friday under the watch of the tribunal's clerk of court, Edgar Aricheta.

Ma. Carina Cunanan, head of the Property Division and PET Ad Hoc Committee member, said the SC's 101 security personnel will be augmented to secure the proceedings.
Security will be tight. Members of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard and Police Security Protection Group will secure the recount venue round-the-clock.

The PET has about 1,400 ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, one of Marcos' chosen pilot provinces for the recount.

The other ballot boxes are with the Commission on Elections.

Once the PET has finished counting the contents of the 1,400 ballot boxes, it will receive the other ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.

Jose Lemuel Arenas, another PET Ad Hoc committee member, said for each table, there will be three revisors composed of the head revisor, an employee of PET, and one revisor each from the Marcos and Robredo camps.

Psychometricians, revisors, lawyers and representatives from the two camps will make up the 213 personnel who will be reporting daily to the PET during the counting process.

Arenas said the time limit per ballot box with less than 300 votes will be 5.5 hours, 8.25 hours for boxes with 300-700 votes and 11 hours for boxes with more than 700 votes.

Marcos questioned the election results in 39,221 clustered precincts but he paid only for the recount of votes in 36,465 precincts. He claimed that the vice presidential election was marred with massive electoral fraud, anomalies and irregularities such as preshading of ballots, pre-loaded Secure Digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning VCMs, and an 'abnormally high unaccounted votes/undervotes.

The former lawmaker claimed that his team gathered 'solid and incontrovertible evidence of cheating while going through the printed ballot images from the decrypted Secure Digital (SD) cards.

This include samples of questionable ballot images from two of his pilot provinces, Camarines Sur and Negros Oriental, which showed that votes for him were not counted. Yesterday, Marcos' camp said it was looking forward to the start of the manual recount.

'We have endured two years of waiting due to Robredo's habitual and intentional moves to delay the election protest and deliberate attempts to bury the truth, Marcos said in a statement.

His lawyer, Vic Rodriguez, said Marcos' poll protest is historic because it was the first to have reached the recount stage.
He said the conclusion of the recount will determine the winner of the vice presidential contest. 'This will dispel once and for all the uncertainty that beclouds the true choice of the electorate and prove that Robredo cheated her way to the vice presidency, the statement read.

'Finally, we have reached the day when manual recount would finally commence and we very much look forward to its final conclusion to determine the bona fide winner, the Marcos camp added.

Robredo's camp, meanwhile, said it does not fear the recount of votes.

'We are confident and we have nothing to fear about the recount. There is no doubt that Vice President Robredo won the 2016 elections, Romulo Macalintal, one of Robredo's legal counsels, said in a statement.

'This recount will prove Vice President Robredo's 2016 win and will expose that Marcos' accusations are all lies, Macalintal added.

Tribunal to start 2016 VP race votes review

The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), was scheduled to start today the revision of vice presidential votes in three provinces during the 2016 polls.

This was in line with the electoral protest that former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed against Vice President Leni Robredo.

A total of 5,418 ballot boxes from clustered precincts in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental that Marcos chose for the initial ballot recount will be the subject of the review, Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te said.

“Around 400 more ballot boxes from Camarines Sur are in the custody of bodies where there are pending poll cases,” Te said. “These ballot boxes will be retrieved later for the revision.”

“As to the Negros Oriental and Iloilo ballot boxes, [they] will be retrieved at a later date due to storage area constraints,” he added. “But rest assured that these are properly accounted for in compliance with a temporary protection order.”

The PET hired 40 head revisers to verify the physical count of the ballots. Two revisers – one each from the Marcos and Robredo camps – will complement the PET revisers.

Objections, questions and claims by both camps will be recorded and the subject ballots marked, but no ruling shall be made by the revisers. Only the PET may rule on these collated issues.

The revision will run Mondays through Fridays, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a 15-minute break at 10 a.m., one hour lunch break at 12 noon and an afternoon break from 3 to 3:15.

LENI RELIEVED

Meanwhile Robredo said she is relieved that the PET will finally begin its manual recount. She believes this will finally put an end to claims that she cheated her way to the vice presidency.

“Matagal na naming hinihintay na magsimula na iyong recount, kasi ang pakiramdam nga namin, nagkakaroon lang ng pagkakataon na gamitin iyong isyung ito para i-muddle kung ano iyong katotohanan,” she said.

Marcos, son of dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., lost to Robredo in the May 2016 vice presidential race by a 263,473 votes.

In his electoral protest Marcos alleged that there were massive vote-buying, pre-shading of ballots, preloaded secure digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning vote counting machines, a script change in the transparency server that allegedly altered the results, and an “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/under-votes for vice president./PN