Petition to cancel COC filed by Marcos’ namesake still pending, Comelec clarifies

The petition to cancel presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s certificate of candidacy (COC) filed by the latter’s namesake is still pending with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

At a virtual briefing on Tuesday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez corrected his previous announcement that the petition filed by Tiburcio Marcos was denied by the poll body’s division.

“We have an update on the Tiburcio [petition], it’s been submitted to the division,” he said.

“So, clearly an error was made saying that it was already disposed of because it is with the division right now,” he added.

Tiburcio Marcos’ petition argued that “impostor” Bongbong Marcos does not exist as legal person as the real one has been deceased since 1975.

So far, there are two petitions against Marcos that were dismissed by the Comelec— the one filed by Danilo Lihaylihay, which seeks to declare Bongbong as a nuisance candidate, and the petition to cancel COC filed by a human rights group led by Father Christian Buenafe.

The petitioners in both cases have already filed motions for reconsideration before the Comelec, based on the matrix provided by the poll body to the media on January 25.

Apart from the Tiburcio petition, there are four other petitions that have yet to be decided by the poll body. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News