Convenors of opposition coalition 1Sambayan believe that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will do the right thing and implement the law on the disqualification case against presidential aspirant former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said on Thursday, Jan. 6, that the poll body will decide on time just as it did on the disqualification cases filed against Senator Grace Poe and the late movie star Fernando Poe Jr. when they sought the presidency.
“This is really part of the democratic electoral process that we have and we should look at it this way. Let us trust our institutions. Let us trust the Comelec. Let us trust the Supreme Court,” he said during the TAPATan media forum.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon will preside on Friday, Jan. 7, over the preliminary conference on Akbayan’s disqualification case against Marcos.
The case stemmed from the July 27, 1995 conviction of Marcos on four charges violating Section 45 of the 1977 National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC) for failing to file income tax returns from 1982 to 1985.
READ: Akbayan, martial law victims file new DQ case vs Marcos
The Quezon City Regional Trial Court sentenced him to three years in prison with a fine of P30,000 in one of the cases.
Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) states that anyone who “has been sentenced by final judgment” for any offense with a penalty of more than 18 months “or for a crime involving moral turpitude, shall be disqualified to be a candidate and to hold any office.”
Carpio earlier explained that Marcos’ case will not fall under the first provision of 18-month imprisonment because the Court of Appeals (CA) removed the imprisonment from the conviction and left only the fine.
His case may fall under the “moral turpitude” clause subject to the decision of Comelec and SC.
On Thursday, he said the poll body still has time to cancel Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy (COC) since the OEC states that COCs can be canceled 15 days before the elections.
READ: Bongbong Marcos' camp: tax evasion case is not a crime involving moral turpitude
“I think okay naman (it’s okay). I think they are on track. I believe that there is still time. And I believe that these cases will be finished just before the retirement of the three commissioners,” lawyer Howard Calleja, one of 1Sambayan’s convenors, said.
Carpio shared that he didn’t personally know about Marcos’ tax case but Calleja remained optimistic that Comelec will “do the right thing” once the poll body knows about the existing conviction.
The former magistrate also said that he believes the Comelec commissioners “will perform their functions pursuant to their mandate under the Constitution.”
Calleja maintained that the poll body is an “independent constitutional body.”
“We trust that the commissioners will remain independent and we believe they will serve the people and the institution well,” the lawyer said.
Marcos, the namesake of the late dictator, filed his COC on October 6 to seek the presidency.
He tops presidential preference surveys and has a huge following on social media with many of his supporters belying the human rights abuses and corruption during the Marcoses’ 20 years in power.