PET affirms jurisdiction over Marcos poll protest

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, denied Vice President Leni Robredo's counter-protest to the electoral protest of former Sen. Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., who has accused her of cheating in the 2016 elections.

The vice president earlier asked the tribunal to dismiss Marcos' protest for lack of jurisdiction and for being insufficient in form and substance.

According to Robredo, Marcos should have raised his electoral protest as an issue in a pre-proclamation case filed before Congress acting as the National Board of Canvassers.

"The protestee (Robredo) is mistaken," the tribunal said.

Under Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, the PET is mandated to be the sole judge of all protests concerning the election, returns and qualifications of the president or vice president of the country.

The tribunal affirmed its jurisdiction over the Marcos protest, which it deemed sufficient in form and substance.

"However, while the tribunal finds the protest sufficient in form and substance, it must be emphasized that, as to the veracity of the protestant's allegations, nothing yet has been proved," the court ruling dated Jan. 24, 2017 read.

The PET stressed that the electoral protest is only sufficient for the tribunal to proceed and give Marcos the opportunity to prove his case.

The tribunal noted that the protest contained "narrations of ultimate facts on the alleged regularities and anomalies in the contested clustered precicnts, which [Marcos] needs to prove in due time."

The Marcos camp has acknowledged the resolution of the tribunal.

“We are hoping that with this resolution, there will be an end to all these delays and we can finally move forward. There is a need to ferret out the truth as to what really transpired during the vice presidential race last May,” Marcos' lawyer Victor Rodriguez said in a statement.