The Commission on Elections (Comelec) wants to expedite the resolution on the petition seeking to cancel the certificate of candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
"It will take as long as it takes but of course we want to expedite the resolution of the case," Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a television interview Wednesday, Nov. 3.
When asked if the case will be resolved before the start of the campaign period for the May 2022 polls, he replied:"We will find out."
Jimenez, however, stressed that there is no time limit to this as they need to find out if what the complainants are saying are true and also hear the defense of the other party.
Several groups and personalities on Tuesday submitted a petition with the poll body seeking to cancel or deny the COC of the former senator over supposed "false material representation" stemming from a 1995 tax case.
Meanwhile, Jimenez described as "misleading" a press release from the Marcos camp quoting him as saying that there was no clear case to disqualify the former Senator from running for president.
"The PR is misleading. The quote was referring to why Senator Marcos hadn’t yet been disqualified despite the fact of his conviction. The original quote should have been taken in the context of the fact that the Senator ran for VP In 2016. That quote was not intended in any way as a comment on the current petition recently filed," he said in a statement.
"At the time of interview, there was no filing against the senator, and therefore what I said could not possibly be construed or framed as referring to that subsequent event," added Jimenez.