The Philippine Supreme Court today “unanimously dismissed” the four-year-old poll protest filed by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, which contested the results of the 2016 vice-presidential elections that was eventually won by Vice President Leni Robredo.
High court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said that “7 members [of the court] fully concurred with the dismissal and 8 concurred only with the result.” Hosaka did not explain why Bongbong’s protest was dismissed, and why the eight justices merely agreed with the result.
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Bongbong, the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, claimed that the election in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, and Basilan were marked with cheating. He said that if the election in those three areas were declared void, Robredo would lose 497,985 votes, making him the legitimate winner.
It was in October 2019 when the Presidential Electoral Tribunal announced that Robredo’s lead against Bongbong actually grew by 15,000 votes after a recount was held in Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.
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The Marcoses have launched a years-long campaign that sought to restore their power, as they continue to be hounded by numerous graft and human rights abuse cases. Bongbong’s sister Imee Marcos won a seat in the Senate in 2016 while her son Matthew Manotoc is the governor of Ilocos Norte, the Marcoses’ home province.
Bongbong has declared that he plans to run for a national government position in 2022. A few surveys have shown that he is one of the top candidates for president, along with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, the daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte.
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