Robredo hints at Marcos hand in lost votes 'PR stunt'

MANILA, Philippines — Is former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. behind the reports that Vice President Leni Robredo has lost some 21,000 votes as the ongoing poll recount hits its fourth week?

Robredo, in a tweet on Thursday noon, hinted that a party in the vice presidential poll protest might have been releasing “fake news” regarding the developments in the recount.

Learned that the fake news also came out in Bulletin, Standard, Tribune, PTV 4, etc. Huge PR stunt. Can’t come from a PET insider, as they claim, because this is so far from the truth.  We already know from which camp this comes from. pic.twitter.com/R5AVVDbuwp

— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) May 3, 2018

Earlier on Thursday, Robredo called out a tweet by The STAR saying that her lead over Marcos went down by over 21,000. Quoting an insider, the report said that the margin between Robredo and Marcos has been narrowed to 242,000 from the 263,473 in the 2016 national elections tally.

The claim was also reported by other news agencies.

READ: 'This is fake news': Robredo calls out report claiming she lost over 21,000 votes

Robredo said that she has “learned that the fake news also came out in Bulletin, Standard, Tribune, PTV4, etc.”

The vice president said that it seems to be a “huge PR stunt.”

“Can’t come from a PET insider, as they claim, because this is so far from the truth. We already know from which camp this comes from,” Robredo added.

The PET has not issued a resolution or media advisory on the developments in the recount since the proceeding started on April 2.

Robredo losing votes?

The reports that came out on Thursday said that Robredo has lost votes due to the 50-percent voting threshold applied by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

The PET, acting on an appeal by Robredo, ruled that they will apply 50 percent threshold—or at least half of the circle shaded—for a vote to be considered valid.

The vice president has already appealed to the tribunal to use the 25-percent threshold. In her motion for reconsideration, she cited vote counting at Barangay Laganac in Balatan, Camarines Sur where Robredo received 358 votes.

Upon the application of the 50 percent threshold, a physical recount on the ballot yielded 346 votes for the vice president. Votes for Marcos did not change in the tally.

RELATED: Marcos camp: Robredo should stop tainting PET's integrity

“[I]n simple terms, the votes for protestee Robredo was decreased by 12 votes while the votes for protestant Marcos was maintained,” the motion reads.

The PET has ordered the camp of Marcos and the Commission on Elections to respond to Robredo’s motion.

Marcos, in his protest, contested the results in a total of 132,446 precincts in 39,221 clustered precincts covering 27 provinces and cities. He sought for a recount in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental covering a total of 5,418 clustered precincts. The recount started on April 2.