The dean of the Faculty of Law of the Royal and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas said on Sunday, November 7, that the attempt to remove Presidential aspirant and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. from the 2022 presidential race will most likely fail for lack of merits.

“As I see it, the petition to cancel BBM’s certificate of candidacy (COC) is bound to collapse once evaluated by the Comelec (Commission on Elections) because it appears to be defective in form and offers insufficient legal basis to obtain its desired judgment,” said Nilo Divina, who heads the Divina Law Office.

The law expert noted that instead of presenting factual statements and legal basis to support its claim of Marcos’ ineligibility to run for the presidency, the narratives of the 57-page petition was laced with invectives in almost all pages against the family of respondent (Marcos).

“It’s ad hominem, or an attack against the character of the respondent, that may weaken the petitioner's position. It is the law, always, that matters. However, it is the intent that invokes the law that often justifies or bungles it. But at the end of the day, the law remains, the law,” Divina stressed .

Divina was the second legal expert from one of the prominent law universities who expressed his opinions against a petition which sought to cancel or deny the former senator's COC because he failed to file his income tax return during the turbulent years of his late father’s administration.

Recently, Ateneo University law expert and former Justice Secretary Alberto Agra said that the petition filed with the Comelec to cancel the COC of Marcos has no basis and is unlikely to move forward.

In an interview with DZRH, Agra said it was clearly stated in the Omnibus Election Code that the former lawmaker was qualified to run for the presidency in next year’s election because he has no flaws in his COC submission.

“Nakalagay sa Omnibus Election Code natin na kailangan ay hindi convicted. Ibang termino ang nakalagay sa batas. Ang nakalagay sa batas ay kailangan sentenced, may final judgment of imprisonment. Ang nangyari nang binasa ko ang kaso, wala si presidentiable BBM, hindi siya sentenced to imprisonment. Guilty siya to pay fine (It is stated in the Omnibus Election Code that you must not be convicted. It's a different term stated in the law. The law states that he must be sentenced, with final judgment of imprisonment. What happened when I read the case, presidentiable BBM had none, he wasn't sentenced to imprisonment. He was guilty to pay a fine),” Agra said.

The Ateneo law professor clarified that he is not neither a Marcos lawyer or supporter, but based on his analysis of the petition, it appears that the case is not tax evasion but simply a failure to file his ITR.

Agra added that the law states that to cancel the COC of any candidate, he or she must be found guilty and punished with more than 18 months of imprisonment or be convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.

“Moral turpitude, kung medyo halang ka, bastos, immoral, talagang gustong mandaya o manggulang. Ang tanong ngayon ay 'yun bang hindi pag-file ng income tax return yun ba ay crime involving moral turpitude? Siyempre hindi (Moral turpitude, if you are slightly evil, rude, immoral, if you really want to cheat. The question now is whether the non-filing of your income tax return is a crime involving moral turpitude? Of course not),” Agra added. (Melvin Sarangay)