Retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio on Sunday denied that he is one of the petitioners in the case filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which is seeking to disqualify Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. from running as president in Eleksyon 2022.
In an interview over ANC’s Headstart, Carpio bared that petitioners of the complaint may have been “inspired” by his column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, which noted why Marcos Jr. is not eligible to become a presidential candidate.
Carpio, likewise, said he is willing to give his advice to petitioners.
“Well I wrote about it publicly, four columns on it. Many people picked it up and said they want to file. And I said, ‘Very good! If you want my advice I can give you my advice and you do the filing because I wrote about it,'” Carpio said.
He further denied that he was a party to the petitioners in the disqualification complaints.
“Well, they took inspiration from my column and that’s it but I am not… I’m not a petitioner. If they want to get my advice I’m willing to give them my ten cents’ worth,” the former SC justice added.
According to Carpio, Marcos Jr. must not be allowed to run for president due to the provisions of the Tax Code which stated that “any offense under the tax code would result in disqualification from holding public office.”
Also, he said that Marcos Jr. cannot be substituted if he gets disqualified because his certificate of candidacy will be void.
“If he is disqualified because he was disqualified from the very start, his certificate of candidacy is void from the beginning. Void ab initio. So he was never a legitimate valid candidate. It’s as if you never fielded your COC so you cannot be substituted because you are legally not a candidate in the first place,” said Carpio when asked if Marcos Jr. can be substituted if he gets disqualified.
The petitioners, composed of human rights advocates and Martial Law victims, have asked the poll body to disqualify Marcos Jr. in the presidential race for 2022 because of his conviction for violating the Internal Revenue Code, which carries the penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding any public office.
They also noted that in 1995, a Quezon City court convicted Marcos Jr. for failing to file his income tax return from 1982-1984.
Comelec’s 1st Division is handling Marcos Jr. ‘s case. —Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News
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