Comelec eyes to resolve petition vs. Marcos by late December

MANILA – An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said the resolution of the petition to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. may be issued before the end of this year.

“It’s probably going to be something around December because right now we’re already ending the first week of November and with five days to answer and three days to submit memoranda, that’s one week gone. Then you have to talk about different schedules, so I’m estimating maybe late in December,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a television interview.

He said the process will take a few weeks.

“We give them five and three days but you have to understand there’s scheduling to consider. Number 2, there is the question of when they will actually receive the summon because receipt of summoning is what tolls the period right? So it can run into a few weeks,” he added.

Asked if the Comelec will have to decide on moral turpitude, Jimenez said, “I really cannot predict what the (Commission) en banc will do or what it will take cognizance of.”

“I have not read the complaint in its entirety so I cannot discuss it that much. So we really just have to wait for the en banc and see how they handle it,” he said.

On Tuesday, petitioners Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal, and Josephine Lascano, filed a petition to cancel Marcos’ COC for containing multiple false material representations.

They said Marcos was convicted by the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in a July 27, 1995 decision “for his multiple failures to file income tax returns”.

They also claimed that the Court of Appeals upheld the decision which was no longer appealed before the Supreme Court, “thereby becoming a final and unappealable conviction”.

The Petition to Cancel or Deny Due Course was filed under Section 78 in relation to Section 74, Article IX of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC).

The petitioners noted that Marcos is not eligible to run for any public office because he was convicted.

On Wednesday, Marcos’ spokesperson, lawyer Victor Rodriguez said they would address “this predictable nuisance petition” at the proper time and forum after they have received the official copy.