NI NERIO AGUAS
Ibinasura na ng Comelec Second Division ang petisyon na ikansela ang kandidatura ni presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. dahilan sa kawalan ng sapat na merito.
Sa resolusyon na inilabas ng Comelec, ang petisyon na “merits summary dismissal” na nasasaad sa Section 17 ng Omnibus Election Code na ang pagkansela sa certificate of candidacy (COC) ay dapat na isampa lamang kung may pagsisinungaling sa ilalim ng Section 74.
“In this instant case however, aside from alleging the existence of false material representations in Respondent’s COC, Petitioners also invoked grounds for disqualification against him,” ayon sa resolusyon.
Samantala, sa hiwalay na opinyon ni Comelec Commissioner Antonio Kho, bagama’t sang-ayon ito sa pagbasura sa petisyon dahil sa kawalan ng merito, hindi naman sang-ayon ito sa ponente ng resolusyon na ang parusa na perpetual disqualification to hold public office sa ilalim ng P.D. No. 1994 ay hindi maaaring iugnay si Marcos sa kadahilanang hindi na ito isang public official nang mabigo itong ihain ang kanyang 1985 income tax return noong Marso 1986.
“The fact that Respondent Marcos Jr. abandoned his post as the Provincial Governor of Ilocos Norte when he and his family fled the country during the February 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution cannot and should not operate to deny the possible application against him of the penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office,” ayon pa kay Kho.
“Consequently, the representations of Respondent Marcos Jr. in his certificate of candidacy that he is eligible to be elected to the office of the President of the Philippines and that he has not been found liable for an offense which carries with it the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding public office are NOT FALSE,” dagdag pa ni Kho.
Kaugnay nito, sinabi ni Atty. Teodore Te, isa mga counsel ng mga petitioners na sina Fr. Christian Buenafe, co-chairperson ng Task Force Detainees; Fides Lim, board chair ng Kapatid-Families and Friends of Political Prisoners; Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, executive director ng Medical Action Group, Celia Lagman Sevilla, secretary general ng Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance; Roland Vibal ng Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, at Josephine Lascano, executive director ng Balay Rehabilitation Center, sumang-ayon aniya ang Comelec sa mga petitioners na ang representasyon ni Marcos Jr. sa kanyang certificate of candidacy (COC), partikular na ang Item 11 at Box 22, ay ‘material’ subalit hindi umano pabor ang poll body na ito ay hindi totoo.
SamaNtala, nagpasalamat naman ang kampo ni Marcos sa Comelec sa naging desisyon nito.
“The petitioners’ mere creativity for writing and wanting what is not written in the law as basis to cancel the certificate of candidacy of Presidential Aspirant Bongbong Marcos is way too frivolous and unmeritorious to override the basic precepts of the Constitution,” sabi ni Atty. Vic Rodriguez, tagapagsalita ni Marcos.
Sinabi pa ni Rodriguez na igagalang nito ang anumang legal remedies ng mga petitioners.
“As to what our rivals will be doing next, I don’t engage, as I have stated many many times, into speculation. If they want to exhaust all legal remedies available to them it is within their right and we have always been respectful of the rights,” sabi nito.
“In the statement I have issued this morning, I have stated there clearly that this case pending before the Second Division has been fully ventilated and argued by both sides and it is time to listen to the unanimous voice of the Second Division of the Commission, dismissing the petition dahil sinabi ng COMELEC mismo walang material misrepresentation na ginawa si Ferdinand Bongbong Marcos Jr.,” paliwanag pa nito.
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