With the creation of
additional revision teams
VP NOLI CONFIDENT PROTEST CASE WILL
BE RESOLVED SOON
31 May 2006
Vice President Noli “Kabayan” De Castro’s camp welcomed the
Presidential Electoral Tribunal’s (PET) decision granting their motion for the
creation of additional revision teams to expedite the resolution of the protest
case lodged against him by former Senator Loren Legarda.
Originally there were only twenty-five
revision teams facilitating the process of revision and recount. This prompted
De Castro’s camp to file the motion asking for the increase in the number of
revision committees.
De Castro, through his lawyers Romulo
Macalintal and Armando Marcelo of the AMPGP law office, argued that while the
case is still pending, the 124,404 boxes containing the ballots from the 124,404
precincts protested in the vice presidential race, cannot be utilized for the
2007 elections. This may entail an additional of almost P186
million of people's money unduly being used for the unwarranted protest.
“The PET decision would allow a speedy
resolution of the protest and would settle once and for all the issues raised in
the protest before the 2007 national elections, thereby avoiding additional
expenses to the government,” De Castro explains.
With the PET resolution, the De Castro
camp is optimistic that any cloud of doubt in the victory of Vice President De
Castro in 2004 would vanish into thin air barring any additional delaying tactic
that the opposing camp may employ.
Ref no. VPMEDIA
06-056
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