MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The Supreme Court of the Philippines rejected an electoral protest by the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, thwarting his attempt to reverse his narrow defeat in the 2016 vice-presidential election in what could have been an impressive political comeback.
The 15-member court, which voted as an electoral court, unanimously rejected the protest filed by Ferdinand Marcos Jr. after he lost to opposition leader Leni Robredo, court spokesman Brian Hosaka said on Tuesday.
Marcos Jr. did not immediately comment on the court’s decision. Robredo expressed relief and thanked his supporters, lawyers and judges “for their justice and determination”.
“Even if they tried to tarnish the legitimacy of my mandate, trust remained,” Robredo said at a news conference. She urged everyone “to leave the grudge behind” and continue efforts to tackle the poverty exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Marcos Jr. lost to Robredo, a human rights lawyer, by more than 263,000 votes in the run for the vice presidency, the highest political position that was close to being captured by the family of the former dictator, who was removed from an army – supported the “people’s power” revolt in 1986. The Marcos fled to Hawaii, where the deposed leader died three years later, facing huge accusations of human rights and corruption.
The dictator’s widow, Imelda Marcos, and her children ended up returning to the Philippines, where she ran and lost in the 1992 presidential elections. Marcos Jr. won a Senate seat in 2010 and, in 2016, turned his eyes to the vice presidency.
In a recount of votes approved by the court in three provinces selected by Marcos Jr., Robredo’s leadership increased by about 15,000 votes in a major setback in his protest. Robredo, who won the vice presidency with more than 14 million votes, asked the court to reject Marcos’ protest.
The presidential legal advisor, Salvador Panelo, said that everyone should abide by the court’s decision. “There is always another election to justify the loss or validate the rejection of the voting population forever,” he said.
In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately. Robredo was attacked by President Rodrigo Duterte for his criticisms of the bloody crackdown on illegal drugs and sexist comments.
Duterte publicly sided with Marcos and allowed the ex-dictator to be buried in the country’s Heroes’ Cemetery in 2016, infuriating supporters of the 1986 uprising that deposed Marcos.
Robredo opposed Duterte’s decision to bury the late dictator in sacred soil, saying that Marcos refused to apologize for the atrocities committed during Marcos’s government.