Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rowena V. Guanzon on Wednesday, Feb. 2, said she and Commissioner Marlon S. Casquejo were deprived by Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino of their right to vote on the disqualification cases filed against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.
During a live interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source, Guanzon said “Ferolino, by taking the ponencia resolution hostage, has deprived me and Commissioner Casquejo our right to vote in the Marcos disqualification cases.”
Guanzon retired today, Feb.2, as commissioner of the Comelec, meaning her vote will no longer be counted and her separate opinion will not be part of the poll body’s official record as the resolution on the disqualification cases under the First Division have not yet been written by the tasked ponente or writer in the person of Ferolino.
Though the vote or separate opinion of Guanzon will not be part of the official record of Comelec’s record, it will be part of the public record as she released it on Jan. 31, a day before her retirement. She voted to disqualify Marcos, saying “the facts are undisputed.”
“I really believe that there is a grand design to delay the Marcos disqualification cases so that my vote will not be counted to DQ (disqualify) Bongbong Marcos,” she said.
Guanzon recounted that, on Jan. 25, Casquejo tried to contact Ferolino, because he was willing to write the resolution if she was willing to waive it.
“But unfortunately, again, she (Ferolino) was not replying anymore to our texts and calls. That’s why it was Chairman Abas whom I asked for help in an executive session to call her up,” she said.
“Well, instead of releasing her decision, she issued a memorandum for Chairman Abas...”
Guanzon insisted that Marcos Jr. is a “convict”, saying that he did not even the fine for not paying his tax dues.
“He (Marcos) is a convict! He is a convict and his case is still pending so the people have to know that. I mean ‘yun ngang nagnakaw ng sampung kilong mangga kinulong nila, ito hindi nila kinulong, pinagmulta lang, and yet he did not even pay the fine. That is admitted,” the former Comelec commissioner stressed.
She is also wondering why Ferolino was taking “too long” to issue a resolution about the disqualification cases of Marcos, saying that “all the facts are already admitted "and all what she needs to do is “weigh all the evidence using the substantial evidence rule.”