A petition seeking to cancel or deny due course to the certificate of candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. has been filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday, Nov. 2.
Petitioners Fr Christian Buenafe of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Fides Lim of Kapatid, Ma Edeliza Hernandez of Medical Action Group, Celia Lagman Sevilla of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance, Roland Vibal of Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, and Josephine Lascano of Balay Rehabilitation Center claimed that Marcos' COC contains multiple false material representations.
In a statement, the petitioners said Marcos falsified his COC when he claimed that he was eligible to be a candidate for President of the Philippines in the 2022 national elections when in fact he is disqualified from doing so.
Petitioners also claimed that Marcos is not eligible to run for any public office as he is, plainly, a convicted criminal.
"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. This conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and no longer appealed to the Supreme Court, thereby becoming a final and unappealable conviction. Having been convicted by final judgment of a violation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Marcos is perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, to vote and to participate in any election as mandated under the NIRC," the statement read.
They added that the crimes for which Marcos was convicted by final judgement are also crimes involving moral turpitude that disqualifies Marcos from being a candidate for any office under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code.
The petition emphasized that the crime is one involving moral turpitude since, among others, Marcos and his family refused and continues to refuse to pay to the Filipino people roughly PhP203.8 billion in estate taxes, inclusive of interests, surcharge, and other penalties.
The petitioners represent a cross section of political detainees, human rights and medical organizations that opposed the Marcos dictatorship.