MANILA, Philippines (Updated 10:32 a.m.) — The fight against the candidacy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., now presumptive president-elect, has reached the country’s highest court.
After losing at the Commission on Elections, petitioners led by their counsel Theodore Te ran to the Supreme Court to ask it to “cancel and declare void ab initio the Certificate of Candidacy for President” filed by Marcos.
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They also asked the SC to issue a temporary restraining order to enjoin both Chambers of the Congress from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos and proclaim him — set on May 23 — pending the resolution of their petition.
Petitioners ask the SC to annual and set aside the May 10 Resolution of the Comelec en Banc that junked their appeal to cancel Marcos’ COC, and the Jan. 17, 2022 resolution of the Second Division that dismissed their plea.
“This Petition prays for the invalidation and reversal of the Questioned Comelec Resolutions for having been rendered in grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” their Petition for Certiorari read.
“Respondent Comelec, by refusing to Cancel or Deny Due Course the [COC] of respondent Marcos, Jr. despite his having deliberately made false material representations on two material items, acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction,” they added.
Like other legal challenges filed against Marcos’ candidacy, the Buenafe petition is also anchored on the presumptive president-elect’s conviction for non-failure of Income Tax Return for four years.
For their case, the petitioners accused Marcos of “misrepresentations pertaining to his eligibility due to his prior convictions under the 1977 [National Internal Revenue Code.”
But the petitioners also brought to SC the Marcoses’ family estate tax liability, estimated to have reached P203 billion due to surcharges and interest, as testament to Marcos Jr.’s “propensity to flour Philippine laws.” They noted that there is no showing that the Marcos heirs paid the tax due, and their team has also evaded questions by the media on the issue.
The popular vote
Part of the petitioners’ prayer to the SC is to declare Marcos to “have never been a candidate in the 2022 National Elections.”
“With Respondent Marcos Jr.’s Void COC, the Eligible Candidate with the Next Highest Number of Votes Should be Proclaimed,” they told the court,” they told the SC citing the case of Jalosjos.
In the cited case, Jalosjos’ COC was declared void due to ineligibility during his filing, and the cancellation retroacted to the day of filing. Part of the ruling read:
If a certificate of candidacy void ab initio is cancelled one day or more after the elections, all votes for such candidate should also be stray votes because the certificate of candidacy is void from the very beginning.
The petitioners also cited the Velasco doctrine that explained the second placer rule. In it, the court said that when faced between provisions on material qualifications of elected officials and the will of the electorate, “we believe and so hold that we cannot chose the electorate will.”
The petitioners also cited Maquiling v. Comelec that also followed the Velasco doctrine. In this 2013 case, the SC held:
"When there are participants who turn out to be ineligible, their victory is voided and the laurel is awarded to the next in rank who does not possess any of the disqualifications nor lacks any of the qualifications set in the rules to be eligible as candidates."
The petitioners plead to the SC: “[A] candidate’s putative election victory cannot subsequently cure his ineligibility. Elections are more than just a numbers game 101 such that an election victory cannot bypass election eligibility requirements. The balance must always tilt in favor of upholding the rule of law.”
Marcos also faced petitions for disqualification at the Comelec, and their counsels have vowed to take their case all the way to the SC.
In the latest unofficial tally on Tuesday afternoon, Marcos leads with 31 million votes with outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo with 14.8 million votes at the far second.