11 Oct. 2017
With or without Chief Justice Maria Lourdes
Sereno the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET),
should begin with the recount of the votes covered by Bongbong Marcos’ protest
against Leni Robredo immediately.
Vested interest parties may use the
forthcoming impeachment of Sereno as a ground to call for an indefinite start
of the recount, since she is the PET chairperson. They, or Sereno herself, might
claim that she will have to focus on her impeachment first and thus may not be
100 percent effective in carrying out her duties in the recount as PET
chairperson.
The PET should come out with an assurance now
that Sereno’s predicament will not cause an indefinite delay in the start of
the recount or on its conduct. With or without Sereno.
The PET should also explain now what’s
keeping them from setting the date for the commencement of the recount. They
had already approved, and identified the pilot areas for it. Bongbong has already
paid his protest fee in full. He has submitted all his evidence. So what else
is the PET waiting for? 30
Buying time?
ReplyDeleteThe more CJ Sereno has to timely set the recount before her impeachment starts.