ARTIAL law survivors led by Satur Ocampo and Bonifacio Ilagan yesterday asked the Supreme Court to overturn a decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) junking their disqualification (DQ) case against presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Ocampo and Ilagan, along with members of the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA), filed their petition a day after a group of civil activists asked the tribunal to cancel Marcos’ certificate of candidacy and to stop Congress from canvassing votes in the May 9 elections and from proclaiming Marcos as the country’s next president.
In their 75-page petition, they said Marcos’ failure to file his income tax returns (ITRs) for four consecutive years (1982 to 1985) while vice governor and governor of Ilocos Norte should not be regarded as a simple omission.
They said that as a government official, Marcos should follow the law like every one else.
“It shows an utter disregard of the laws which, as chief executive of the province of Ilocos Norte, respondent convicted candidate Marcos Jr. took an oath to uphold,” they said.
“It is the repeated, deliberate, willful, and intentional violation of the tax code that makes such violation a crime involving moral turpitude,” they added.
The Comelec, in dismissing the disqualification case against Marcos, said he was not perpetually disqualified from holding public office and was not convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude or sentenced to more than 18 months in prison, contrary to the claims of petitioners.
But the petitioners insisted that Marcos “continuously violated” the Tax Code by not filing income tax returns from 1982 to 1985. They said the violation constitutes or amounts to moral turpitude.
They said that while the Tax Code amendment imposing perpetual disqualification on public officers who violate the Tax Code took effect only on Jan. 1, 1986, the the non-filing of ITRs is a continuing offense.
“Mr. Marcos did not even try to belatedly file his income tax return. He just did not.
Therefore when the amendments introduced took effect, respondent convicted candidate Marcos Jr. remained to be committing an offense in continued violation of the law,” they said.
In the same plea, the petitioners asked the SC to halt the canvassing of votes and proclamation of Marcos as president by issuing a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction.
Instead of Marcos, the petitioners want the SC to declare Vice President Leni Robredo as the next president.
Partial, unofficial results showed Marcos with more than 31 million votes while Robredo has more than 14 million.
Howard Calleja, the petitioners’ counsel, said the petition is not tied with Robredo and they would have filed the same whoever is Marcos’ opponent. He also dismissed arguments that in case Marcos is disqualified, it should be the presumptive vice president, Sara Duterte-Carpio, who should succeed.
“There is no presumptive vice president.There is no vice president yet. It is not a question of succession but an issue of whether or not there was a valid candidate,” Calleja, who is serving as the petitioners’ legal counsel, said.
“Since in this case, there is no valid candidate therefore there is no valid votes.If there are no valid votes, the person with the next highest valid votes should be the one to be declared as the winner,” he added.
PH-CHINA TIES
Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday talked about the way forward for the relationship between China and the Philippines as well as not allowing whatever “conflicts or difficulties we have now between our two countries to become historically important.”
The Marcos camp, in a press release, said Marcos and Xi had a “lengthy telephone conversation on Wednesday,” during which the Chinese leader congratulated the former senator and “assured him that China will respect and support his incoming administration’s independent foreign policy.”
Marcos said their conversation was not the typical congratulatory call, as they already had preliminary discussions on how the China-Philippines ties could be strengthened.
The Chinese Embassy, in a statement released after the two leaders’ phone conversation, said Xi stated that the Philippines and China should “grasp the general trend, write a grand story on the China-Philippines friendship in the new era, and follow through the blueprint for bilateral friendly cooperation, to usher in an even brighter future for the two nations.”
World leaders, such as United States President Joe Biden and Australian Prime Minister Scott John Morrison have congratulated Marcos.
TRANSPORT SECTOR
Meanwhile, an alliance of transport groups appealed to Marcos to appoint a transportation secretary who can genuinely address their growing concerns amid the pandemic and continued oil price hike.
Ariel Lim, spokesperson of the National Public Transport Coalition (NTPC), said the transport sector is one of the “neglected” sectors of society during the height of the pandemic and now, due to the continued oil price hike.
He said they are banking on Marcos’ promise that he will help all sectors improve their lot while strengthening the economy.
He asked that Marcos allow the transport sector join “the process of choosing and appointing” a transportation secretary and officials under it, including at the Land Transportation Office and the Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board, to guide the government on who could best address the concerns of the sector.
The NPTC said there should be a transparent and equal fuel subsidy distribution to ease the impact of the continued oil price hikes.
“With the fuel hike and inflation of prices, we are destitute for government help. Fuel subsidy, just like COVID-19 pandemic subsidy, were only given, allegedly, to a select few. Majority of us still have not received any subsidy at all,” Lim said.
The NPTC is composed of representatives from the National Confederation of Tricycle and Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines , Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Operator Nationwide, Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines, Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator tutol sa Phase Out, Association of Taxi Operators in Metro Manila, Unified Transport Alliance of the Philippines, Small Bus Operators of the Philippines, Philippine Bus Operators Association of the Philippines, Pilipino Society and Development Advocates, Alliance of Philippine Customs Brokers and Trucking Associations, Inland Haulers and Truckers Association, Haulers and Truckers Association in the Watersouth, Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection, Truck Drivers Association of the Philippines, Motorcycle Rights Organization, Motorcycle Riders of the Philippines, Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Raymond Africa
