President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. | Image from BBM Media
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court’s (SC) decision to dismiss the disqualification cases against President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “vindicated” his camp’s belief that these cases were “without merit,” topnotch lawyer said on Wednesday.
The SC on Tuesday dismissed the petitions for disqualification and cancellation of certificate of candidacy (COC) against Marcos, with a 13-0 and two abstentions.
Marcos’ lawyer Estelito Mendoza said they “expected” a unanimous decision on the cases.
“We did, in fact, foresee it because we are convinced that petitions were without merit. Now that belief has been vindicated by the 13-0 vote,” he said in an interview over ABS CBN News Channel.
“We actually really expected a unanimous decision,” Mendoza added.
Two petitions were filed before the SC – one for disqualification and another for the cancellation of Marcos’ COC.
One petition assailed the January 17 and May 10 resolutions of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), dismissing for lack of merit their plea seeking the denial or cancellation of the COC of Marcos as well as their motion for reconsideration.
The other petition was filed by a group of martial law survivors led by Satur Ocampo and Bonifacio Ilagan. They also asked the SC to overturn the Comelec’s decision junking their disqualification case against Marcos.
Both petitions argued that he was disqualified from holding public office after a 1997 Court of Appeals ruling affirmed his conviction for non-filing of income tax returns (ITRs) from 1982 until 1985.