Former Senator Mar Roxas filed an election protest at the Supreme Court on July 9, 2010. Here is the initial statement issued by Atty. J.V. Bautista, spokesperson for Vice President Jejomar Binay.

We will respond extensively to the election protest of Mar Roxas at the proper time. Our lawyers have yet to receive a copy of said protest.

We recognize his right to file a protest. But if the basis of the protest are the so-called “null votes,” Mar Roxas should be prepared to lose a second time.

There is a reason why these votes are called “null votes.” Comelec Chairman Jose Melo himself asked the rhetorical question: “How can you count votes that are not there?”

The trust of our people in the electoral process has been restored by the May 10 national election. The national election has been fair, honest, peaceful and transparent. The national results also reflect the result of the exit polls conducted by reputable survey companies and media entities. In fact, the Social Weather Station (SWS) exit poll result had a variance of less than one percent with the actual result.

Again, Mr. Roxas is well within his right to file a protest. Unfortunately, his action tends to undermine the people’s newly-restored faith in the electoral process. It also shows that the old adage that there are no losers in national elections, only those who were cheated, is still very much with us.

 See: Roxas seeks inclusion of 3-M null votes