Ms. Ronadale Zapata
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The lawyers of Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro are baffled by the latest statement of defeated
candidate Loren Legarda on the postponement of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) of recount of votes blaming the delay on everyone but herself.


According to Atty. Armando Marcelo of the Andres Marcelo Padernal Guerrero & Paras (AMPGP) Law Offices, counsel for the Vice President, it was Supreme Court spokesman Ismael Khan himself who announced that the recount was postponed to give the tribunal time to resolve Legarda’s motion to exclude 21 municipalities in Mindanao from the recount.


Senator Legarda should be reminded that the reason for the November 10 postponement of the recount was because of her motion chickening out of the recount in Lanao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.


Legarda's sudden flip-flop and fickle-mindedness may be a preview of how she would have conducted herself in a highly sensitive office requiring quick and decisive action.


Marcelo also reiterated their earlier contention that Legarda’s move to withdraw part of her protest is prejudicial to the Vice President since he is now being deprived of his chance to clear his name after Legarda accused him of cheating in the Mindanao provinces. As if this was not enough, Marcelo was appalled that Loren even had the temerity to place the blame of delaying the recount on the duly elected Vice President.


VP’s counsel Atty. Marcelo also expressed concern over the true purpose behind Legarda's withdrawal and the facts that she may be trying to hide.  According to him, her sudden withdrawal is suspicious, specially considering that de Castro won in those provinces. "What did she find out after she reviewed the Election Returns for Lanao del Norte and Surigao del Sur?" asked Marcelo. "Perhaps she finally realized that the Vice President really won and all her accusations are not supported by the records.  She sounded so sure about her protest before, but apparently she was mistaken.  Maybe her entire protest is one big mistake, as we have always maintained before the PET."


Far from really determining the truth, Marcelo reiterates that Loren is more concerned with maligning the Vice President’s reputation and she is doing so at the expense of the valuable time and resources of the Vice President, the PET, and more importantly the taxpaying public.



Ref no. VPMEDIA 05-172