President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. asked the Supreme Court (SC) “to protect the free choice of the sovereign Filipino people” as he pleaded the dismissal of the petition filed against him for his disqualification in the last May 9 presidential election.
“To allow the defeated and rejected candidate to take over is to disenfranchise the citizens representing 58.77 per cent of the votes cast, without fault on their part,” Marcos told the SC in his comment filed by his lawyer Estelito P. Mendoza.
Marcos garnered 31,629,783 as against the 15,033,773 votes of his closest rival, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo. Congress had proclaimed Marcos as President-elect.
He is set to take over the reigns of government at noon of June 30 as the country’s 17th President.
He told the SC the petition against him, filed by a group led by Fr. Christian Buenafe, should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and/or complete lack of merit.
He pointed out that after his proclamation only the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) could inquire into his eligibility. The PET is composed of all the 15 members of the SC.
There are two petitions filed with the SC on the disqualification of Marcos. Both petitions pleaded for a temporary restraining order (TRO) that could have stopped the canvassing of votes for president and the proclamation of the winner.
Only the first petition filed by Buenafe’s group had been acted upon by the SC by requiring the respondents – Marcos, the Commission on Elections, and Congress – to file their comments on both the petition and the plea for TRO.
Since Congress had terminated the canvass of votes and had proclaimed Marcos as President-elect, the pleas for TRO have become moot and academic.
Marcos’ filing of his comment was in compliance with the SC resolution.
He also told the SC that to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COD) “for any reason, let alone such flimsy basis as imaginary ‘misrepresentation,’ would be to inflict the ultimate indignity on the will of the sovereign Filipino people, a massive affront to our democracy and complete negation of republicanism of our government.”
He pointed out that the petition against him “with prayer to declare me ‘to have never become a candidate’ and for ‘the eligible candidate with the next highest number of votes be proclaimed’ defiles the sovereign will of the Filipino people.”