Marcos Jr. asks Comelec to junk Ilocano group's Eleksyon 2022 disqualification case

Presidential aspirant and former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to dismiss the Eleksyon 2022 disqualification petition filed by a group of Ilocano martial law survivors for lack of merit.

In their 24-page answer to the petition for disqualification, Marcos’ camp argued that the latter was never convicted by final judgment of a crime involving moral turpitude.

And even if Marcos was convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, the disqualification has long been automatically removed.

The presidential aspirant’s camp further noted that Marcos was never sentenced by final judgment to a penalty of more than 18 months of imprisonment nor sentenced to a penalty of prision correccional.

Marcos’ conviction for failing to file tax returns did not disqualify him from holding any public office, his camp claimed, saying Section 286 of the 1977 National Internal Revenue Code is not applicable in his case.

Even if the said section was applicable, Marcos’ camp said the former senator was still not disqualified from holding public office because the penalty of disqualification is not ipso facto imposed upon the mere fact of conviction and neither the Regional Trial Court nor the Court of Appeals imposed the said penalty.

Lastly, Marcos’ camp said the presidential aspirant should be covered by the retroactive effect of RA 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law which decriminalized the non-filing of an annual income tax return by pure compensation income earners.

Early this December, Pudno Nga Ilokano (Ang Totoong Ilokano) filed the fourth disqualification case against Marcos, citing the latter’s conviction on tax-related cases in 1995.

Petitioners in the latest disqualification case filed against Marcos include Margarita Salonga Salandanan, Crisanto Ducusin Palabay, Mario Flores Ben, Danilo Austria Consumido, Raoul Hafalla Tividad, Nida Mallare Gatchallan, and Nomer Calulot Kuan.

Last week, the Comelec issued Marcos a summons over the petition filed by the group. — DVM, GMA News