SC has no jurisdiction to stop canvassing, proclamation - Marcos camp

The Supreme Court (SC) has no jurisdiction to prevent Congress from canvassing the votes and proclaiming the winner of the May 9 presidential election, according to the camp of presumptive president Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday.

In a manifestation submitted to the high court, Marcos' counsel, Estelito Mendoza, argued that the duly elected president and vice president must begin their term at noon on June 30 and end their term at the same time six years later, as stated under the 1987 Constitution. 

Mendoza also cited Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution, which mandates lawmakers to canvass the votes.

The same provision provides that the person with the highest number of votes "shall be proclaimed elected."

“All of the above provisions, in language and intent, are mandatory and the Supreme Court is without jurisdiction to prevent their implementation,” he said.

Based on partial and unofficial results, Marcos took the lead with 31.1 million votes, followed by Vice President Leni Robredo with 14.8 million votes.

On Tuesday, a group led by Father Christian Buenafe asked the SC to prevent Congress from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos and proclaiming him as the next president pending the resolution of their petition seeking the cancellation of the former senator's certificate of candidacy. 

The SC on Thursday directed Marcos, the Commission on Elections, the Senate, and the House of Representatives to comment on the petition within 15 days from the receipt of notice. 

Martial Law survivors have also filed a petition urging the court to declare that Marcos is perpetually disqualified from public office and cannot run for even the lowest elective position.

Both petitions argued that Marcos was not eligible to run for president due to his conviction for non-filing of income tax returns from 1982 to 1985.

The petitioners took their case to the SC after the Comelec rejected their request to remove Marcos from the presidential race. —VBL, GMA News