By Moira Encina
Eagle News Service
Former Senator Bongbong Marcos said ballots from four clustered precincts of Bato, Camarines Sur were “wet,” which meant someone could have opened the boxes recently.
“Basa. So hindi magamit. Hindi namin maintindihan papano, imposible naman siguro na dalawang taong basa yan…Palagay ko, kailangan talaga pag aralan kung paano nangyari yan,” Marcos said after visiting the site where the initial recount of ballots from three pilot provinces— Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental—began on Monday.
According to Marcos, 38 ballot boxes were also found to not have audit logs.
He said the logs were important because they show when the precinct opened, what time the vote was made, and what time the precinct closed.
“E kung may late reporting, o early reporting, tulad ng nakikita namin sa ibang record na may pumapasok na resulta ng Sunday May 8 (2016), merong pumapasok na resulta late May 9 (2016) at umaga May 10 (2016), dun natin makikita dapat sa audit log. E winala ang audit log,” Marcos said.
Marcos’ comments will be jotted down by the revision committee, which will submit the same to the Supreme Court sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
He said that as of Monday morning, the 40 revision committees already opened 42 ballot boxes from the 42 clustered precincts of Bato.
The results of the initial recount, which covers 5418 clustered precincts, will determine whether the manual recount for the entire 31047 clustered precincts covered by Marcos’ electoral protest will proceed.
Leni Robredo was declared the winner of the 2016 vice presidential elections after claiming more than 200,000 votes more than Marcos.
