SUPPORTERS of Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo have asked Wednesday the Supreme Court (SC) to reconsider its decision to turn down their bid to contribute for her counter-protest fee.
Proponents of the "Piso Para Kay Leni" led by Museo Pambata founder Cristina Lim-Yuson filed before the SC, which sits as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), a motion seeking to allow them to help Robredo pay the second tranche of her counter-protest fee worth P7.4 million.
Robredo was required by the PET to pay a total of P15.4 million for her counter-protest against former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
She failed to pay the second tranche on the deadline set by the SC and instead asked for an extension to give her time to raise the required amount, which the SC further granted.
In their motion for reconsideration, the petitioners argued that even Marcos paid his fees through "third parties," who wish that the election protest be resolved with dispatch.
"Incidentally, the payment of other individuals for protestant Marcos was done without asking for leave of court; and it was accepted by this Honorable Tribunal without any question," they said.
The group said the Vice President will be deprived of her victory if the SC will not allow them to help Robredo pay.
"A Vice President who won will be deprived of her victory if those who voted for her will not help her protect her win," Lim-Yuson said.
Lim-Yuson said their group has now collected about P7 million from P25,000 Filipinos since they have started their "Piso Para Kay Leni" project.
Aside from Lim-Yuson, other members of the group are former Pag-Ibig Fund Chief Executive Officer Zorayda Amelia Alonzo, former human rights commissioner Paulynn Sicam, award-winning singer Celeste Legaspi-Gallardo, Ateneo de Manila University Press director Karina Bolasco, and former social welfare secretary Corazon Soliman. (VoxPop Philippines)
