A photo uploaded by a pro-Marcos Facebook (FB) page claiming the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) has already decided on former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s electoral protest over the result of the 2016 vice presidential race is misleading.
FB page Pres. Ferdinand Emmanuel E. Marcos posted Oct. 15 a collage of images of 13 Supreme Court (SC) Justices. Two of them — Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio — had images enclosed in a yellow-dashed square.
Also on the photo is the text:
11-2
PET JUNKS CAGUIOA’S DECISION TO DISMISS THE VP PROTEST
OUTNUMBERED.
OUTPOWERED.
It was accompanied with the caption:
#AlamNaThis kung sino ang tuta ng #KultongDilawan —>Caguiao and Carpio
Salamat po sa 11 Justices na tunay na may malasakit sa katotohanan! Mabuhay po kayo!!! (sic)(#NowWeKnow who are the lapdogs of the #YellowCult —> Caguioa and Carpio
Thank you to the 11 Justices who truly have regard for the truth! Long live!
This infographic is misleading. The Supreme Court sitting as the PET did not vote to junk any decision dismissing the electoral protest filed by Marcos. The vote was on whether to issue a decision on the protest, or give the parties a chance to comment first on the result of the revision of ballots.
The High Court, on Oct.15, issued a resolution ordering Marcos and Vice President Leonor “Leni” Robredo to submit a memorandum which contains the following:
- Their comments on the report on the result of the ballot recount in the three pilot provinces of Iloilo, Camarines Sur and Negros Oriental.
- Their position on several issues outlined by PET related to the third course of action of the case — to invalidate the VP election results from the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao.
The resolution “does not yet resolve the entire case,” but is “designed to hear the parties fully on the various legal issues relating to their controversy.”
Retiring justice Carpio, and Justice Caguioa, PET member-in-charge of the electoral protest, both dissented from the resolution, voting instead to dismiss outright the protest as Marcos “failed to make out his case.” This is based, they say, on Rule 65 of the 2010 Rules of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
Caguioa added in his dissent, “What else is there to say or comment on?”
The viral FB photo also incorrectly included Justice Jose Reyes Jr. among the justices who decided on the latest PET ruling. According to SC spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka, Reyes was absent during the Oct. 15 en banc session of the SC, when the PET decision was made. The false post did not include Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, who had agreed to the resolution.
Pres. Ferdinand Emmanuel E. Marcos’ post, which made the rounds on the internet the same day the latest PET ruling was released, got around 7,200 interactions, and could have reached a total of 830,000 social media users. Its top traffic generators are FB pages Pres. Ferdinand Emmanuel E. Marcos and Balitang Pambansa, and public group DUTERTE ANG BOSES NG MASA.
Pres. Ferdinand Emmanuel E. Marcos was created on May 18, 2012.
(Editor’s Note: VERA Files has partnered with Facebook to fight the spread of disinformation. Find out more about this partnership and our methodology.)
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