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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider Robredo dismisses Marcos DQ case decision, says she's 'on track' to beat him

Robredo dismisses Marcos DQ case decision, says she's 'on track' to beat him

Published Feb 10, 2022 08:51 pm

The camp of presidential aspirant Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday, Feb. 10, shrugged off the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) First Division to dismiss the three consolidated petitions to disqualify former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from the upcoming May polls.

Former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Leni Robredo (MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTOS)

Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said the disqualification cases were “never a consideration” to begin with because the Vice President, who beat Marcos in 2016, is decided to emerge victorious this coming elections.

“The disqualification was never a consideration. From the time she announced her candidacy, she always intended to achieve victory in the elections,” he stressed.

Gutierrez claimed the team is “on track” to do that.

“And with Tuesday's explosive start to her campaign, it's clear that she's on track to do just that,” he said, referring to the grand rally in Naga City, Robredo’s hometown, for the kickoff of the official 90-day campaign period.

Earlier, Robredo already said that she would rather beat Marcos again than have him disqualified to join the presidential race.

“If you were to ask me, I would rather beat him in the elections to finally put an end to all this,” she told CNN Philippines’ “News Night” in Filipino.

“He (Marcos) needs to be defeated in the upcoming elections so that once and for all his pushing of a narrative to the people can be stopped,” she added, referring to the allegations made by the Marcos camp that she cheated in the 2016 elections.

That electoral protest, however, was junked by the Supreme Court in February 2021.

On Thursday, Feb. 10, the Comelec’s First Division dismissed for “lack of merit” the three consolidated cases against Marcos based on his non-filing of income tax returns (ITR) in the early 1980s.

READ: Three DQ cases vs BBM dismissed

This decision came a week after former Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon retired, but not before she revealed her vote to disqualify the former senator.

Guanzon was head of the First Division, and pushed Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, the case’s ponente, to release the decision before her retirement since they mutually agreed to do it by January 17. Ferolino denied agreeing to a deadline.

The retired commissioner alleged that Ferolino is being intimidated by a senator, though she only revealed the name to Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who is now running as vice president.

Related Tags

Bongbong Marcos dismissal VP Leni Robredo Barry Gutierrez Comelec disqualification cases
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