PDP-Laban on Monday filed a petition before the Supreme Court, calling for a manual recount of senatorial votes from the recently concluded midterm elections.
Citing alleged irregularities during the polls, the party’s legal counsel, Atty. Israelito Torreon submitted a Motion for Leave to File Supplemental Petition for Mandamus, urging the high court to allow a full audit of the vote count.
Torreon was joined by singer-lawyer Jimmy Bondoc, a 2025 senatorial candidate who failed to secure a seat.
The new petition includes updated information that happened after the Party first filed their original petition.
“The proposed supplemental petition is being submitted together with this motion and it seeks merely to incorporate the updated facts or recent developments- transactions, occurrences, or events which have happened subsequent to the filing of the original petition - to aid in the full, fair, and fast adjudication of the issues already raised in the original petition,” PDP-Laban said.
The party also claimed widespread discrepancies between the actual ballots and voter receipts, and alleged that over 17 million senatorial votes were excluded from the tally as “overvotes.”
“What is essential is that the mandated process under our prevailing election laws be carried out, so that the truth may be known, accountability may be identified and exacted, and public confidence in the electoral process may be restored,” the PDP-Laban stated in its petition.
Earlier, Vice President Sara Duterte alleged fraud in the recent elections, asserting that three additional PDP-Laban candidates were rightful winners.
Duterte speaking during an Independence Day celebration with Filipinos in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, raised concerns over the recent midterm election results.
She lamented that conversations with IT experts convinced her the official vote counts were likely inaccurate.
Duterte urged PDP-Laban to scrutinize the election counting process, highlighting the need for transparency and accountability.
In the recent polls, PDP-Laban secured victories for reelectionists Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, along with House member Rodante Marcoleta later received the party’s endorsement.