By Raymund Antonio

Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday welcomed the latest ruling by the Supreme Court, but said she felt “half relieved and frustrated” as it only ordered the release to parties the revision committee report on the results of the vice presidential recount.

For Robredo, the dismissal of the election protest was the “acceptable” decision by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, in accordance to its Rule 65 and results of the recount.

“Kasi ang paniniwala talaga namin (We believe) there is no other way but to dismiss this, considering their own rules, and considering the results of the recount,” she said in a media briefing held at the Quezon City Reception House.

Under Rule 65 of 2010 PET rules, the election protest must be dismissed if her opponent former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. fails to obtain substantial recovery of votes in the three pilot provinces.

These provinces were Camariner Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental, all of which were chosen by Marcos in his election protest.

“Mabuting balita nag-order iyong PET para malaman ng publiko kung ano talaga iyong nagtranspire sa recount, ano talaga botong lumabas at sino talaga iyong nagsasabi ng katotohanan,” she said.

(The order of PET is good news so the public would know what really transpired in the recount, what were the results, and who is really telling the truth.)

On Tuesday, the SC, acting as PET, did not rule on the Marcos protest, but it ordered the release to parties of the report on the ballot recount and revision in the three provinces.

The parties were also asked to comment on Marcos’ motion to nullify the results in the three ARMM provinces namely Lanao del Sur, Basilan, and Maguindanao.

They were required to submit their memoranda to the tribunal “within a period of 20 days from receipt of the notice,” SC Spokesperson Brian Keith Hosaka said.

Robredo, who is the leader of the opposition, said they would comply with the latest SC ruling.

“Kami ay susunod, parati naman kaming sumusunod. Parati naming nirerespeto iyong Supreme Court,” she told reporters.

(We will follow. We always follow and respect the Supreme Court.)

The Vice President said that she believed the official committee report would affirm her victory in the 2016 elections once it is made public.

“Tapos na iyong eleksyon. Pinroclaim tayo ng Kongreso. Iyong resulta na galing sa Comelec. Nagkaroon ng recount, panalo ulit tayo. So ilang panalo pa ang kailangan para maniwala siya na hindi siya iyong nanalo?” Robredo said, referring to Marcos.

(The elections are over. We were proclaimed by Congress. The results came from Comelec. There was a recount, we won again. So how many wins I need for him to believe that he lost.)

Robredo defeated Marcos by a slim margin of 263,473 votes in the past vice presidential race.