MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) has given Vice President Leni Robredo more time to pay for the second tranche of the protest fee required of her. 

Robredo’s lawyer Bernadette Sardillo said Tuesday, July 11, that the SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, has granted them permission to postpone the payment originally set on Friday, July 14. 

“Nakiusap kami sa mga mahistrado na payagan na ‘wag munang magbayad sa Biyernes at binigyan naman kami ng additional na panahon,” Sardillo told reporters. (We asked the justices to allow us to postpone the payment due on Friday and to give us more time, and they agreed.) 

No date has been set yet since Robredo’s lawyers would have to formally file a motion. 

Asked about the request of Robredo’s supporters to contribute for her protest fee, Sardillo said the motion was not taken up during the preliminary conference. 

Last June 27, prominent supporters of the Vice President, who are all awardees of The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service, asked the PET to let them directly deposit the amount collected from their online campaign “Piso Para sa Laban ni Leni”. 

Through this initiative, the group not only aims to “protect” Robredo but also the results of the last elections as duly-registered voters. 

Robredo still has to pay P7.449 million for the contested 31,278 precincts after she settled the first tranche of P8 million last May 2. 

Her rival former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on the other hand, completed his P66.2 million payment on Tuesday. 

During a press conference after the preliminary conference, Marcos said the amount also came from the donations of his friends and supporters, who also funded the first installment. 

He said this was not enough so he had to augment this by selling property. He refused to provide details about the property, however. – Rappler.com