Former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. aired out his accusations over the alleged anomalies involving the opened ballots for the vice presidential vote recount on April 2.
In a Facebook post, he said that “100% weather proof” and “waterproof” ballot boxes were “soaked in water,” a practice he described as something often used by election cheaters before a recount; found it laughable that Vice President Leni Robredo’s lawyer explained the incident as something that was caused by a storm in Camarines Sur; and found it suspicious how Robredo’s camp changed their tune by saying they are confident with the outcome of the recount.

But election lawyer Emil Marañon III addressed Marcos’ accusations one by one in a Facebook post and told the protesting politician, “Wow mali na naman tayo.”
Marañon deemed the practice of wetting the ballots as something used decades ago in 1992, but things have changed as the automated elections replaced the manual elections. He also pointed out that Marcos’ camp even asked for the scanned copies of each ballot to be printed.
“Una, wetting the ballots para mandaya sa recount is so 1992. Hindi katulad noong manual elections, sa automated election system, may scanned copies ang bawat balota na pwede balikan in case na masira, mabasa or mawala ang original paper ballots. Baka nakalimutan ni Mr Marcos na nag request nga siya to print them,” he wrote.
He also explained why ballot boxes are not exactly “weather proof” and “waterproof,” as per Marcos’ claims.
“Hindi lang raw “100% weather proof” but “waterproof” ang ballot boxes kaya hindi raw pwede mabasa. Mukhang hindi pa siya nakakakita ng ballot box at kung saan nakatago ang mga ito. By design, may mga butas talaga ang ballot boxes kung saan dumadaan ang balota mula sa Vote Counting Machine (VCM) going to the box. Yes, kadalasan doon nakakapasok ang tubig pag directly naulanan ang mga ito,” Marañon explained.
The election lawyer further said that most ballot boxes are simply stored somewhere exposed to the elements, such as a gym, but that it won’t matter as much because there are ballot images that can be used as backup reference.
As for Marcos accusing Robredo’s camp of doing everything to delay the vote recount, Marañon pointed out how it was her camp that even “filed a motion withdrawing all motions” and vowed not to file any, something that the Marcos camp failed to deliver when they were the ones that issued the challenge in the first place.
“The Robredo camp raw “did everything in their power to delay the recount.” Wow lang. The Vice President did not file any motion to delay the recount. In fact, she filed a motion withdrawing all motions na may dilatory effect sa proceedings and committed on record not to file any. Baka nakalimutan niyang siya ang hindi tumupad sa sarili niyang challenge at hindi nag-file ng motion to withdraw his dilatory motions,” he said.
Calling Marcos “Boy Kuryente,” Marañon corrected Marcos’ false assumption that audit logs are also stored in the ballot boxes.
“Sir, hindi naman talaga nilalagay ang audit logs sa loob ng ballot box. Sa procedure ng Comelec (pakibasa Resolution No. 10057, Article VII, Section 29 [f] 5), ang audit logs ay tinu-turnover ng Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) sa Election Officer (EO) ng bayan o siyudad after ng election. Pagkatapos, pinapadala ng EO ang naipong audit logs sa Comelec Main Office sa Maynila. Dahil doon, walang audit logs sa loob ng mga ballot boxes. Samakatuwid, huwag maghanap ng wala,” he wrote.
Before ending his Facebook post, Marañon urged Marcos to hire new consultants, considering how many “fake news” and false assumptions he has made over the past few months regarding his election protest.
“Sa dami ng fakenews, mali-mali at kuryente mo sa nakaraang mga buwan, please find better election consultants. Yung nakakaintindi naman kahit slight,” he said.
