The PET said the amount will be used for the retrieval of contested ballot boxes and election documents from contested precincts nationwide.
Marcos is contesting the poll results in 39,221 clustered precincts which the Commission on Elections said are composed of 132,446 precincts while Robredo is questioning the results in 8,042 clustered precincts which are composed of 31,278 precincts.
"The protest and counter-protest require the bringing of ballot boxes and other paraphernalia to the Tribunal for all the foregoing precincts," the PET said in a resolution dated March 21, a copy of which was received by the Marcos camp only on Monday.
After deducting the P200,000 initial deposit paid by both parties, the PET said the bill for bringing the poll materials, which is at P500 per precinct, would be P66,023,000 for Marcos and P15,439,000 for Robredo.
Both camps are required to pay in two tranches, the first of which should be received by the tribunal by April 14, which falls on a national holiday in observance of Good Friday.
Because of this, the payment for the first installment would have to be processed on the next working day, which is on April 17.
Marcos has to raise P33,023,000 for the first installment and P30,000,000 for the second installment.
Robredo, meanwhile, is required to pay P8,000,000 for the first installment, and P7,439,000 for the second installment.
The deadline for the payment of the second installment is on July 14.
Disappointed and bewildered
A spokesperson for Marcos said they will appeal the directive of the PET.
"We will file a motion for reconsideration because the basis used in the computation is erroneous. They (PET) referred to the established precincts instead of the clustered precincts," said Marcos' legal spokesperson Victor Rodriguez.
Marcos' election lawyer, George Garcia, told GMA News Online the former senator got "disappointed and bewildered" after being told of the PET resolution on Tuesday.
Asked why Marcos reacted that way, Garcia said: "It's a long holiday. It's difficult to produce that amount (P33.02 million)."
Robredo's camp told GMA News Online that their lawyers were still studying the resolution.
The PET had earlier ruled against Robredo's bid to dismiss Marcos' poll protest for issues that should have been allegedly resolved by Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC).
The tribunal said it has jurisdiction over the case and the protest was sufficient in form and substance, taking into account the narrations of "ultimate facts" on the alleged irregularities and anomalies in the contested clustered precincts which Marcos needs to prove in due time.
The former senator had alleged that there was massive vote-buying, pre-shading of ballots, pre-loaded secure digital cards, misreading of ballots, malfunctioning vote counting machines, a script change in the transparency server that allegedly altered the results in the vice presidential race, and an “abnormally high” unaccounted votes/undervotes for the position of vice president.
Marcos lost to Robredo by just 263,473 votes in the May 2016 election, making it the tightest vice presidential race in recent history.
SOURCE: GMA
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