Bongbong Marcos asks SC to dismiss petition to cancel COC
MANILA, Philippines — President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is asking the Supreme Court (SC) to dismiss the petition filed by civic leaders to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC) for lack of jurisdiction, saying only the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) can look into his eligibility.
Marcos Jr. won the presidential race with more than 31 million votes. He leads by around 16 million votes from Vice President Leni Robredo.
However, civic grounds wants the SC to reverse the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling refusing to cancel Marcos Jr.’s COC.
Comelec said that while the Court of Appeals affirmed Marcos Jr.’s conviction for non-filing of income tax returns, there is nothing in the ruling that says he is perpetually disqualified from holding public office.
But civic leaders noted that the Comelec ruling basically excluded Marcos Jr. from the coverage of the 1977 tax code. They explained that the Court of Appeals did not explicitly mention that Marcos is perpetually disqualified from holding public office “because the Court of Appeals did not have to do so.”
READ: Petition to reverse Comelec decision on Bongbong Marcos’ DQ case reaches SC
Article continues after this advertisementIn their comment submitted May 31, Marcos Jr., through his lawyer Estelito Mendoza, said: “The Honorable Court is without jurisdiction to issue the temporary restraining order and or enjoin and restrain Congress from canvassing the votes cast for BBM. In addition, the request for a temporary restraining order has become moot.”
Article continues after this advertisementMarcos Jr. explained that since the proclamation of the winning presidential and vice candidates is over, only the SC, sitting as the PET, is the sole judge of all contests relating to the qualifications of a president.
The comment also pointed out that Marcos Jr. did not commit any material misrepresentation in his COC contrary to the claim of the petitioners.
“The decision of the Comelec Second Division and the Comelec En Banc on the absence of any false material misrepresentation in the COC is a finding of fact that is entitled to great weight and must be accorded full respect. The Comelec correctly ruled that the petition for cancellation was subject to summary dismissal,” Marcos’ comment said.
“None of the grounds alleged by petitioners is material. BBM did not commit any false representation in his COC because the penalty of absolute perpetual disqualification was never imposed on him,” it said, adding that Section 252 of the 1977 National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, is not ipso facto imposed upon the mere fact of conviction.
They added that canceling Marcos Jr.’s COC and allowing the second placer, Robredo, to be declared as the winner “defiles the sovereign will of the Filipino people.”
“To allow the defeated and rejected candidate to take over is to disenfranchise the citizens 58.77 percent of the votes cast, without fault on their part,” read the comment.
The fact that Marcos’ vote is more than half of what Robredo has received meant that “the voice of the Filipino electorate is true and clear that they do not only find grounds to disqualify BBM, but they want him to be the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”
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