COMELEC will tackle the petition seeking to cancel Bongbong Marcos’ candidacy
COMELEC — The Commission on Elections will tackle the petition seeking to cancel the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of presidential aspirant former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
COMELEC Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a telephone interview on Wednesday that a hearing will be conducted that will determine if there’s indeed a misrepresentation committed by Marcos, which means, there’s “untruthfulness or wrong information given to the COC so that needs to be proven”.
“Let’s wait for the announcement of the hearing because again at this point this is a live case we cannot go into too many details,” Jimenez said when asked who will handle the case.
According to Jimenez, the cancelation of the Certificate of Candidacy was based on material misrepresentation and a disqualification has broader grounds.
Jimenez added that he can’t predict how long the hearing will last since both parties were expected to defend themselves. When asked if the decision will be out before the campaign period, Jimenez said, “We will find out.”
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Jimenez’s statement came after petitioners Fr. Christian Buenafe, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Fides Lim, Roland Vibal, Celia Lagman Sevilla, and Josephine Lascano, filed on Tuesday a petition to cancel Bongbong Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy for containing multiple false material representations.
The petitioners said that the former senator 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”.
Also, the petitioners 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”.
PTV News reported that 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.
The petitioners also noted that the former senator wasn’t eligible to run for any public office because he’s convicted.
Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, Bongbong Marcos’ spokesperson, said earlier on Wednesday that they would address “this predictable nuisance petition” at the proper time and forum after they have received the official copy.
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