Comelec: 2 weeks for admin process in petition vs Bongbong Marcos

Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez (file photo)

MANILA, Philippines — The administrative process to resolve the petition seeking to cancel former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s candidacy for president may take two to three weeks, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said Thursday.

Jimenez, however, said that there is no time table on when the decision for the petition will come out.

“As far as the administrative process goes, it probably takes about two to three weeks, but how long the decision will take to come out, there is no timetable for that,” Jimenez said on ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart.

“Once the case has been submitted for resolution, again maybe two weeks from now, then it will be up to the hands of the division to decide as soon as they can or as late as they need to. There is no timetable for that,” he added.

Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. files his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president on Wednesday, October 6, 2021, at the Sofitel Harbor Garden Tent in Pasay City. (INQUIRER.net/Daniza Fernandez)

Jimenez also noted that a petition for cancellation of a certificate of candidacy “is likely to be resolved before the elections.”

The petitioners include representatives of  Task Force Detainees, Medical Action Group, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance and Balay Rehabilitation Center Inc.

The petition, filed last November 2, asserts that Marcos is not eligible to run for any public office since the Quezon City Regional Trial Court convicted him in 1995 for his failure to file income tax returns.

The petition has been raffled to the Comelec’s second division.

Jimenez earlier said that summons for the petition may be issued within this week.

“Basically you first raffle it to a division and after that, we serve summons on the respondent. We basically give the respondent the opportunity to file an answer,” Jimenez said, discussing the process for resolving the petition.

“Once that answer has been filed, the parties will be called together to a pre-conference hearing and they will be able to ventilate their respective positions, and after that they will be given three days to submit their memoranda, after which the case will be deemed submitted for resolution,” he added.

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