Refer
to: Ms. Dale Zapata
83321148/8334507
VP NOLI URGES EXPEDITING OF INVESTIGATION
ON BALLOT BOX PADLOCK THEFT
26
September 2005
Vice
President Noli “Kabayan” de Castro has urged for the expediting of the investigation of
the alleged
theft
incident involving the padlocks used for the ballot boxes in Tabogon, Cebu, as well as
the prosecution of the alleged
election offenders.
The Vice
President has asked the Commission on Elections to take every measure necessary
to protect the integrity of
ballot boxes and other election
paraphernalia, with the primary aim of upholding the sanctity of the ballots contained therein.
Insofar as
the pending Election Protest is concerned, the lawyer of the Vice President, Atty.
Armando M. Marcelo of the
Andres Marcelo Padernal Guerrero and Paras Law Offices, said that De Castro
humbly submits to the sound
discretion of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) on how the case shall be
handled in light of the recent
developments.
Atty. Marcelo
said that the Vice President has no objection to the use of the ballots or
other authentic
copies of the
election returns to resolve the case, subject to the proposal of Sen. Loren
Legarda and the concurrence of
the PET.
“The Vice
President is confident that the PET will ultimately confirm the truth that he has
received the mandate of the
Filipino people as their duly-elected Vice President,” Atty Marcelo added.
Previously,
De Castro has manifested his interest to maintain the integrity of the ballots
when he vigorously opposed the
move by Sen. John Henry Osmeña to cause the transfer of ballot boxes to
the Senate Electoral Tribunal.
On the other hand, Sen. Loren Legarda failed to do anything to oppose
the move.
Ref no.
VPMEDIA 05-134
©
Copyright
2005
Office of the Vice President (OVP) 
Management Information Services
Division (MISD). All rights reserved.
|
