MANILA — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo said on Wednesday that the present ballot recount at the Presidential Electoral Tribunal is a ‘political distraction’ set by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s group.
In a radio interview, Georgina Hernandez, spokesperson of Robredo, said the Vice President sees the ballot recount proceedings as a ‘political distraction’ since she has more important anti-poverty tasks to focus on.
“Ngayon po iyong isyu ng pagtaas ng presyo ng bigas, iyong pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin dahil sa (Now, the increase in the price of rice, increase in price of goods because of) TRAIN law ay tinututukan talaga ni (are closely monitored by) VP Leni at ito nga po ang palagay niya, na itong isyu na ito ay maaring malihis iyong isip natin doon sa dapat talagang tinututukan ng ating pamahalaan (and this is what she thinks, that this issue might redirect her attention from the things which the government must focus on),” Hernandez said.
Hernandez said that the ballots becoming wet was not intentional but was due to flood and rain.
Hernandez added that the wet ballots can be attributed to the lack of competence in terms of their maintenance and safekeeping.
“I would think iyong (it is) lack of competence sa (in) maintenance na sinasabi, iyon ay “nabasa” ho, ano, hindi “binasa.” May malisya o sinasadya kapag sinabing “binasa”. (being said that it got wet but not intentional. There is malice when you say got wet intentionally),” she said.
Hernandez reiterated that the counterpart images of the wet ballots would be printed and counted manually.
In a television interview, Marcos’s lawyer, Vic Rodriguez, said the ballot images could definitely be used for the manual recount but their validity must be evaluated.
“’Dun ka nga gagamit nung (There you will be using the) ballot image pero siyempre (but of course) whether it is us or them, either party will have to question the authenticity. Paano na (How is it going to be)?” Rodriguez said. (PNA)
