THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday junked the last of seven petitions seeking to disqualify former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr from the presidential race.
The Comelec’s First Division, ruling on the petition filed by a group of Ilocanos led by Margarita Salandanan, said a disqualification case based on Marcos Jr.’s failure to file income tax returns lacked merit.
The group Pudno nga Ilokano, which filed the petition in December last year, can still appeal the First Division’s decision.
Appeals of petitioners in five of the six cases earlier dismissed by the First or Second Divisions have been filed with the en banc.
Marcos, in an interview in Occidental Mindoro, welcomed the junking as a “good development” and said he is happy the decision came out before the May 9 elections.
His spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, said everyone can now move forward and work on ensuring a clean, honest, credible elections where the real voice of the people will be heard and actual votes will be counted.
“The Commission on Elections has affirmed and settled the last petition for disqualification: Presidential front-runner Bongbong Marcos possesses all the qualifications needed to aspire for, campaign and serve as president of the Republic of the Philippines. It is now time for every peace-loving Filipino to work for a clean, honest, credible and fair elections, and allow the people to speak, their voices heard and votes genuinely counted,” he said.
The First Division, in a 29-page ruling, said, “As it now stands, respondent possesses all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under the 1987 Constitution and relevant laws. As such, the dismissal of this petition is in order.”
The Division said Marcos’ failure to file his income tax returns does not constitute a crime involving moral turpitude.
“Regardless of the fact that the non-filing of income tax return was done repeatedly by respondent, there is still no tax evasion to speak of as no tax was actually intentionally evaded. The government was not defrauded,” it said.
“In the case of respondent, it can be said that the filing of income tax return is only for record purposes, not for the payment of tax liability. He may have been neglectful in performing this obligation. It, however, does not reflect moral depravity,” it added.
The poll body scored the petitioners for saying Marcos should be disqualified for his conviction for a crime that carries a penalty of more than 18 months of imprisonment, and that violations of the tax laws carry the penalties of both imprisonment and fine.
The First Division said it believes there should be no more discussions as to whether Marcos is qualified to run for president or not.
It said that the other issues raised by the parties involved in the case “deserve scant consideration.”
“We no longer find the necessity to address this issue as this has been squarely answered by the discussion above,” said the Comelec.
“Consequently, there is no actual issue or controversy regarding the question whether respondent possesses all the qualifications,” added the ruling. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
