'We will only pay after Mr Marcos [has] already finished the revision and the recount of the ballot,' says the Vice President's lawyer Romulo Macalintal

MANILA, Philippines – After former Senator Ferdinand Marcos settled the first half of the recount fee required by the Supreme Court (SC), will Vice President Leni Robredo pay her dues? “[T]he protestee/counter-protestant (Robredo) did not pay the required initial installment of the cash deposit in the amount of eight million pesos (P8 million) by 17 April 2017, she opted instead to file a manifestation with urgent ex-parte omnibus motion (1) for clarification; and (2) reconsideration of the resolution dated 21 March 2017. “In view of the failure on the part of the protestee-counter-protestant to pay the first tranche of the cash deposit for her counter protest within the deadline set by this Honorable Tribunal, protestant Marcos is now constrained to move for the immediate dismissal of the counter-protest,” Marcos said in an eight-page omnibus motion filed through his lawyer George Erwin Garcia before the PET. Robredo’s lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said they filed a motion on Wednesday explaining a request for a clarification as to the timing of the payment for the counter-protest, “that it could be done if and when Mr. Marcos has already established his case as protestant.”

“We will wait for the PET to resolve the matter,” Macalintal said in a statement. Marcos, through his lawyer George Erwin Garcia, asked the PET for the setting of the preliminary conference on the protest, as mandated by Rule 29 of the PET Rules. The Robredo camp also asked the PET to impose a P185-million fee on Marcos because he questioned the entire election system when he sought the preservation of the election paraphernalia of all 92,509 clustered precincts, which consist of 369,138 established precincts.
Bongbong Marcos asks the Philippine Supreme Court to dismiss a counter-protest by current vice president Leni Robredo regarding her narrow victory in last year's national elections.