The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday denied extending special treatment to Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who faces a petition aimed at canceling his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president in the May 2022 polls.
Earlier, the poll body relaxed its rules to accommodate the former senator’s response to efforts to cancel his COC, despite opposition from the petitioners, who had argued that the Comelec’s rules of procedure provide a non-extendible deadline.
The Comelec Second Division said its decision was backed by the poll body’s rules of procedure and jurisprudence.
“The Comelec does have the authority to disregard procedural rules, which is normal. Even the courts do that,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said at a news conference.
“There is no special treatment there,” he added.
Jimenez also said it was not the first time the Comelec granted a request for an extension to file a response.
“In other cases, it has been done that the motion to admit, motion to extend, things like that, have been granted. If in the interest of justice, the Comelec gives that extension,” he said.
On November 19, Marcos Jr.’s camp answered the petition’s allegation of material misrepresentation since he declared that he had not been convicted of an offense carrying a penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.
The group of Martial Law victims said in their petition that Marcos Jr. was convicted for failure to file his income tax returns in the 1980s. The Court of Appeals affirmed Marcos Jr.’s conviction in 1997.
Marcos Jr.’s camp stated that there was no material misrepresentation if the basis was the information stated in the COC of a candidate under Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code.
These include the candidate’s statement that he is eligible to run, political party, civil status, birthday, and profession among others.
“It is relevant and the commission can take judicial notice that respondent had previously elected to several elective positions in the government. The respondent has all the qualifications of a president under Section 2, Article 7 of the Constitution,” Marcos Jr.’s lawyers said.
“What is clear is and certainly beyond dispute is that the CA decision does not, and no inference can be made from its decision that the appellant, BBM (Bongbong Marcos) in this case, has been found by the CA of committing a crime involving moral turpitude,” the reply added. — VBL, GMA News
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