The camp of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. asked the Supreme Court (SC) sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) on Friday to furnish them with the results of the decryption of the supposedly “unused” SD (secured digital) cards found to have data during the stripping process.

“With all due respect, the presence of data stored in the SD cards, which were retrieved from the 1,356 units of contingency VCMs (vote counting machines), bolsters the position of protestant Marcos that the mere physical examination of the subject VCMs, boxes, seals, stickers and SD cards is indeed inadequate to prove that the same were not used in the 9 May 2016 Elections,” said a six-page manifestation filed with the SC by George Erwin Garcia, counsel of Marcos.

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Marcos’ counsel said that the fact that many of the supposedly “unused” SD cards were found to have data during the stripping activities for 1,356 units of contingency VCMs bolstered their position that mere physical examination is not enough to prove that they were not used in the last elections.

“It is respectfully prayed of this Honorable Tribunal to direct the Comelec (Commission on Elections) to furnish the protestant and the other interested parties in this case with …… the results of the decryption of the SD cards from (1,356) units of contingency VCMS, which were found to contain data during the said closure/stripping activities, xxxx,” Garcia said.

It can be recalled that Marcos lost by a slim margin against Vice President Leni Robredo during the May elections. Since then, he has filed election protests alleging fraud that supposedly made Robredo win.

READ: Marcos: I won’t stop until I show extent of poll fraud

The Comelec conducted the stripping activities last October 26 and November 2 after it decided to release the 1,356 VCMs to Smartmatic, claiming they were not covered by the Precautionary Protective Order (PPO) since they were not used and/or not deployed in the May elections.

Garcia told the tribunal that they did not take part in the stripping activities because it is their position that the Comelec should have first secured authority from the PET before carrying out the stripping activities.

He said the existence of a PPO which enjoins Comelec to preserve all election materials used in the last elections precluded the poll body from conducting the said activity without court approval.

READ: Comelec asks Marcos: Present proof of fraud

“The objection of protestant Marcos was based on his position that the one thousand three hundred fifty-six (1,356) units of contingency VCMs were covered by the PPO dated 12 July 2016, and that this Honorable Tribunal has not issued any explicit approval to the closure/stripping activities. Moreover, the conduct of mere physical examination of the subject VCMs, boxes, seals, stickers and SD cards is inadequate to prove that the same were not used in the 09 May 2016 Elections,” he said.

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Garcia added that with the subsequent approval of the PET to conduct the stripping activities, they still reserve their right to question the propriety and legitimacy of the said undertaking.

Because of their non-participation in the stripping activities so as not to render their objection moot, Garcia said they do not have copies of the Minutes of the Proceedings and other documents in relation to the activities which would guide them in their next course of action.

“On this score, and in order to guide protestant Marcos on the appropriate course of action to remedy his precarious situation, he would like to request this Honorable Tribunal to direct the COMELEC to furnish him and the other interested parties in this case with copies of the Minutes of the Proceedings and/or Transcript of Stenographic Notes taken during the closure/stripping activities conducted on 26 October 2016 and 02 November 2016,” he said. IDL/rga

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