Robredo camp flouts SC gag order

The lawyer of Vice President Leni Robredo yesterday fired another broadside at the camp of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in seeming defiance of an order by the Supreme Court (SC) to stop their word war.

Robredo’s counsel Romulo Macalintal said they have yet to receive the gag order issued by the SC sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) before mouthing off against the Marcoses.

Marcos is contesting Robredo’s vice presidential win in the 2016 elections.

“We have not received a copy of the resolution and we don’t want to preempt the Supreme Court,” Macalintal said. “However, we stand firm that the lies propagated by the Marcos camp called on us to defend ourselves.”

While accusing the Marcos camp of peddling disinformation, Macalintal said he spoke out to defend the PET itself.

“Sometimes, we have no choice but to speak out, in order for the public to be enlightened amid the relentless black propaganda which aims to discredit the recount being spearheaded by the PET,” Macalintal said.

The SC Public Information Office (PIO) made known to all lawyers and members of media, as well as the general public, the gag order through its official Twitter account.

“PET Action, June 26 | SC, as PET in Case no. 0005 (Marcos v Robredo), fines parties and counsels 50,000 pesos each for violation of sub judice rule,” said the SC PIO in its Twitter post.

Marcos’ lawyer Vic Rodriguez said: “We respect the Court’s ruling and shall abide by the decision.”

The contending parties were ordered to pay P50,000 each after they argued their points in public through media interviews.

Last April 10, the PET directed the Marcos and Robredo camps to show cause and explain why they should not be cited in contempt for allegedly violating the resolutions dated Feb. 13, 2018 and Mar. 20, 2018.

In the February 13 resolution, the SC directed both parties to strictly observe the sub judice rule – prohibiting public or media discussions of the merits of a case — during the pendency of Marcos’ poll protest.

The manual recount of votes began on March 19 covering Marcos’ three pilot provinces, namely, Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.

Marcos filed the protest on June 29, 2016, claiming Robredo cheated in the 2016 May elections.