PDP-Laban to SC: Order recount for Senate race
The Partido ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) on Monday filed a supplemental petition with the Supreme Court calling for the manual recount of senatorial votes in the May 12 midterm elections.
In its six-page pleading, the Duterte-allied group claimed there were “blatant and disturbing irregularities” during the polls, citing alleged mismatches between actual ballot and voter receipts and the supposed hijacking by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of the transmission of election returns.
“Whether such manual counting or recount be partial, targeted, or nationwide, Petitioners humbly leave the same to the sound discretion of this Honorable Court, with due regard to the extent of necessity, efficiency and economy or cost-effectiveness in implementing the pertinent election laws,” the group said.
The supplemental pleading was filed under the party’s original petition submitted in April 3 before the high tribunal, which originally sought to nullify four resolutions issued by the Comelec for supposedly being unconstitutional and undermining electoral integrity.
TRO vs resolutions
In that 122-page petition for prohibition and mandamus, the PDP-Laban, represented by vice chair Alfonso Cusi, asked the Supreme Court to immediately issue a temporary restraining order against the implementation of Resolutions Nos. 11061, 11076, 11079, and 11081.
The four resolutions cover the conduct of overseas online voting, canvassing of overseas votes, automated overseas voting and counting, and the General Instructions for the Electoral Board and the public in relation to the May 12, 2025 national, local and first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliamentary elections.
The Comelec and the Department of Foreign Affairs were named as respondents.
Since the party filed the petition in April, it claimed that the poll body continued to commit further violations in the weeks leading up to the elections, alleging, among others, that when the online voting for overseas voters started, there were “overwhelming complaints” about mismatches between actual ballot selections and the ballot confirmation receipt.
“On 10 May 2025, just a couple [of] days before Election Day, it was found out that the software actually installed in the Automated Counting Machines was a different version than the one reviewed and certified by the Technical Evaluation Committee,” the petitioners said.
‘Overvotes’
They also alleged that on election day itself, more than 17 million senatorial votes were excluded from the official tally as “overvotes.”
“There were widespread and consistent complaints among voters all over the country that the names of the senatorial candidates they actually voted for were not reflected on their voter receipts and instead, names not voted for appeared thereon,” they claimed.
These documented irregularities in both domestic and overseas online voting resulted in “palpable public distrust in the credibility of the results, particularly in the senatorial race,” the group said.
Reached for comment, Comelec Chair George Garcia welcomed the PDP-Laban petition.
“Comelec welcomes such remedies to prove the real mandate of the electorate,” Garcia told reporters on Monday.
“We will just wait for the SC action on this matter,” he added.
Of the 10 senatorial candidates fielded by the PDP-Laban in the May 12 elections, only three won: reelectionist Senators Christopher “Bong” Go and Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa and House party list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta. —WITH A REPORT FROM DEXTER CABALZA
