The Akbayan Partylist has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to nullify the certificate of candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr in the May 2022 polls due to his 1995 tax evasion conviction.
In a statement, Akbayan said a convicted big-time tax evader has "no legal and moral right to solicit the votes of millions of Filipino taxpayers."
"The call to cancel Bongbong's candidacy is very simple. He was convicted of tax evasion in 1995. It carried the penalty of perpetual disqualification from running in and holding any public post. When he filed his certificate of candidacy for president, he omitted this fact, thus, forswearing himself and lying to the Comelec and the Filipino people," Akbayan First Nominee Perci Cendaña said.
"Bongbong's perpetual disqualification is a fact, supported by legal documents and affirmed by our country's courts. Just because nobody reminded us of this truth doesn't mean it's not real. Even his previous electoral candidacies and holding of public offices cannot diminish this reality. On the contrary, they only further exposed his mockery of our justice and electoral systems, and reinforced the need to bar him once and for all from competing in any future electoral contest," he added.
According to Cendaña, Bongbong also violated his own father's Presidential Decree (P.D. No. 1994, s. 1985) which amended the National Internal Revenue Code of 1977 and introduced the penalty of perpetual disqualification.
Akbayan then called on the poll body to act on the petition files by several groups and personalities seeking the cancellation of Marcos' COC "with the utmost urgency." "We ask the Comelec to act on this petition urgently and protect our electoral democracy. This is a matter of both public trust and democratic integrity," Cendaña said.
Akbayan held a "taxpayers' protest action" in front of the Comelec office in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday, Nov. 4