The PET's supervised revision of ballots or manual recount of votes will start on April 2, 2018 for the resolution of the election protest filed by Marcos against Robredo.

<div class="image-full-width">
<img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-5/recount-all-set-sm.webp" alt="2016 VP recount" />
<div>
(Former gym on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court-Court of Appeals building on Padre Faura Street in Manila will be the venue of the manual recount of votes in the 2016 vice presidential election.)
</div>
</div>

This will be the first recount of votes to be conducted by the PET under the 1987 Constitution.


Earlier poll protests involving the 2004 presidential race between then President Gloria Arroyo and the actor Ferdinand Poe Jr., the 2004 vice presidential race between former vice president Noli de Castro and Senator Loren Legarda, and the 2010 vice presidential race between former vice president Jejomar Binay and former senator Manuel Roxas II never reached the level of a recount.


The recount, to be conducted at the gymnasium of the SC-Court of Appeals building, will cover a total of 5,418 clustered precincts in Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.


As a prelude to the revision of votes, the PET opened the tribunal for ocular inspection to members of the media on Tuesday, but said they would not be allowed to cover the recount.


The recount would be conducted daily from Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. by 50 revision teams each composed of three members—a head from the PET and one representative each from the camps of Marcos and Robredo.


Under the PET rules, revision of votes would cover verifying the physical count of ballots, recount votes of parties, recording objections and claims, and marking of the contested ballots.


The tribunal also created an ad hoc committee composed of three lawyers—Jose Lemuel Arenas, Edgar Aricheta and Ma. Carina Cunanan—that would supervise the proceedings.


Arenas said the PET is now keeping about 1,400 ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, which would first undergo recount next week.


The other ballot boxes are currently with the Commission on Elections due to storage issues, he said.


Arenas said that once the recount on the first 1,400 ballot boxes is done, the PET will receive the other ballot boxes from Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental.


For her part, Cunanan said the tribunal is expecting some 213 personnel to come in per day during the recount. These include 60 employees of the tribunal, psychometricians, lawyers and representatives of both parties, and the revisors.


Members of the Philippine National Police, Philippine Coast Guard, Police Security Protection Group and PET guards will secure the venue round-the-clock. CCTVs were also installed surrounding the recount venue and the storage area.


She added that the parties will not be allowed to bring in their own security.


The ballot recount, as order by the tribunal, would cover the three pilot provinces of Camarines Sur, Iloilo and Negros Oriental, which were chosen by Marcos as the best provinces where he could prove the irregularities he cited in his poll protest.



Sources: 

<ul class="article-sources">
<li>
The PET is all set for VP ballot recount, <a href="https://goo.gl/t72USr" class="news_link" target="_blank" title="Source">Rey E. Requejo</a>, March 28, 2018, Manila Standard
</li>
</ul>


(This article is adapted from the source listed above. We are unable to grant permission for any kind of reproduction other than social media shares.)

Manual recount of 2016 VP votes will start on April 2, first ever under the 1987 Constitution