MANILA, 6 August 2004 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro yesterday asked the Supreme Court to dismiss the complaint filed by their main rivals in the May 10 elections.
A petition filed by their lawyers said the election protests filed by Fernando Poe Jr. and former Sen. Loren Legarda of the opposition coalition KNP “were insufficient in form and substance.”
Romulo Macalintal, the president’s lawyer, said they were also questioning results in about 10 percent of the total polling precincts nationwide, suggesting that the opposition may have cheated.
Poe and Legarda had earlier asked the high court to annul the results of the election, charging that the administration engaged in widespread cheating involving about 60 percent of 216,000 polling precincts nationwide. The petition sought a recount of the vote.
In their counter-petition, the lawyers of Arroyo and de Castro also sought a recount in some 20,000 polling booths.
Macalintal said Arroyo was also entitled to a review of results in places where she believed she was cheated.
Arroyo and de Castro were proclaimed winners last June after six weeks of manual vote counting and political bickering. The final count showed Arroyo won by just over one million votes from Poe.
Political disputes in the Philippines are often played out in the courts, where they can drag on for months or even years.
Under the 1987 Constitution, the Supreme Court has the sole authority to decide on poll protests but there is no deadline to resolve the complaint.
“It’s a silly move,” said a Poe spokesman, referring to the counter-protest filed by Arroyo’s lawyers seeking a recount in areas where the actor won overwhelming victory, particularly in the capital region Manila. (Additional input from Reuters)
