Robredo Protests Over Unused Ballots With Votes for Her, “Dapat Kasali Sila sa Bilang”

Vice President Leni Robredo and her camp are now protesting over the unused and excess ballots that have votes for her. This is after the Supreme Court (SC), which sits as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), said that those ballots in question should not be included as counted votes, and should be treated as uncontested ballots.

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"(VP Leni) Robredo was informed that she cannot claim these ballots," PET said in a released document on Wednesday, April 4, referring to the 4 unused ballots that have shaded portion near her name. The said ballots in question are from precincts in Baao, Camarines Sur, and were discovered that day, the third day of the manual vote recount.

As per Sec. 207 of the Omnibus Election Code, “Excess ballots shall be placed inside an envelope labeled “excess ballots. The envelope shall be placed in the compartment for valid ballots, but its contents shall not be read in the counting of votes.” However, VP Robredo said that those ballots should be counted because they have votes for her.

“Kahit 4 na boto lang ang pinag-uusapan natin, mahalaga pa rin yun. Maliwanag na para sa akin ang mga botong iyon, so bakit hindi nila isasama sa bilang? Kung sa katunggali ko ba ang mga boto na yun, ganun pa rin ba ang magiging desisyon nila?” VP Robredo told reporters Thursday, along with her lawyer, Atty. Romulo Macalintal.

(Even if we are only talking about 4 votes, they are still important. It’s clear that those votes were for me, so why don’t they include them in the count? If they have votes for my opponent, will still they have made the same decision?)



The manual recount of the votes started last on Monday, two years after former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. filed his electoral protest. That day, his camp said they discovered that 4 out of the 42 ballot boxes that underwent manual recount were all wet, including all the ballots. The contents have been declared as "illegible."

Contributed by Renato Pasayao