PET urged to resolve motion to probe alleged poll data leakage to Glenn Chong

The lawyers of Vice President Leni Robredo have asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), to immediately resolve their request to investigate the alleged leakage of election data to a former congressman.

Robredo's camp earlier urged the PET to probe into how former Biliran representative Glenn Chong came to possess audit logs from the municipality of Ragay in Camarines Sur.

Chong, who claims to have no connection to the parties in the Marcos-Robredo poll protest case, had presented copies of the audit logs at a Senate hearing on electoral reforms in August.

Robredo's lawyers also questioned how Chong got copies of pleadings and PET resolutions on former senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr.'s contest to the vice president's 2016 poll victory.

The PET then ordered Chong to answer the Robredo motion, but he purportedly filed his comment through his lawyer, Al Vitangcol III, who does not appear to be duly authorized to submit the document,  the vice president's lawyers said.

This is why they asked the PET to expunge the said comment from the records, alongside their plea for the immediate resolution of their motion to investigate.

"Despite his lengthy discussion on why he should not be held accountable for the data in his possession, Atty. Glenn Chong still managed not to address the issue," Robredo's omnibus motion, filed Wednesday, stated.

The new motion hit Chong's "futile explanation" that he obtained the audit logs from the camp of former representative Luis Villafuerte, saying Ragay town is not part of Villafuerte's election protest covering Camarines Sur's Third District.

"...Atty. Glenn Chong submitted a lengthy discourse on alleged electoral fruad which are immaterial to the real issue -- how was he able to get copies of the audit logs from the Municipalityt of Ragay, Camarines Sur?"

"That question remains unanswered," the Robredo motion said, citing this as the reason why their original motion to investigate must be resolved.

Marcos' lawyers have also formally informed the PET that Chong is not a part of the defeated vice presidential candidate's legal team. — RSJ, GMA News