Bongbong unfazed by DQ petition

MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is unfazed by the disqualification petition filed against him before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over a tax conviction 26 years ago.

His camp downplayed the petition filed by a group of political detainees and human rights and health rights advocates as a “predictable nuisance” suit and mere “propaganda” against him.

Marcos said he would not withdraw his candidacy or slide down to vice presidential candidate.

“Maybe that’s part of politics. Especially our opponents, instead of facing us in the election they would rather have me disqualified perhaps because they are afraid of our numbers,” he said in Filipino over radio RMN Palawan.

“But I am not afraid. I will not withdraw or slide down and I will continue with my plans. My candidacy will proceed,” the former senator and son of the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos stressed.

Still, Marcos vowed to answer the petition at the right time and before the proper forum as he thanked his supporters “for not losing their trust in me.”

His spokesman Vic Rodriguez also dismissed the petition as mere propaganda, but did not identify which camp he believed could be behind the move.

“We shall address this predictable nuisance petition at the proper time and forum – after we receive the official copy of the same. Until then, we will refrain from commenting on their propaganda,” Rodriguez said.

The Marcos camp issued the statement in response to the petition filed last Tuesday by individuals who referred to the former senator as “plainly a convicted criminal.”

Petitioners led by Fr. Christian Buenafe cited the conviction of Marcos by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 105 on July 27, 1995, for failure to file income tax returns and pay income taxes from 1982 to 1985.

Records showed that Marcos was sentenced to serve a total of seven years in prison and ordered to pay a fine for several counts of violation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). He appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA), which ruled on Oct. 31, 1997 to uphold the conviction but modified the penalty by deleting the prison term and merely imposing a fine.

The Marcos camp has quoted Comelec spokesman James Jimenez in a One News interview as having stated that under the law, a person must be convicted of a crime involving “moral turpitude” or for an offense where the penalty is at least 18 months in jail to be disqualified from running for public office. – Sheila Crisostomo, Jose Rodel Clapano, Rudy Santos