Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. speaks during the Agri 2022 Online Forum. Image from Facebook / Bongbong Marcos
The first group who petitioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disallow the candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. due to his tax evasion conviction, have opposed including his name in the ballot even provisionally.
In their final memorandum submitted to Comelec’s Second Division on Monday, anti-Marcos regime activists led by Task Force Detainees chair Fr. Christian Buenafe said the “provisional inclusion” of the late dictator’s son in the ballot “may cause undue and unwanted conditioning on the part of the electorate.”
“Ferdinand Marcos Jr. violated the law, was convicted by final judgment, and is perpetually disqualified to hold public office,” they said.
They cited Marcos’ being found guilty in 1995 by a Quezon City court of tax evasion while he was vice governor and then governor of Ilocos Norte during his father’s regime from 1982 to 1985.
Under the National Internal Revenue Code, a public official convicted of tax offense is perpetually disqualified from holding public office and from voting. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan