Marcos urges SC to junk petition canceling COC

The camp of President-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is urging the Supreme Court to dismiss the petition seeking to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC) for lack of jurisdiction and complete lack of merit.

In a 45-page comment, Marcos, through his counsel Estelito Mendoza, said only the Presidential Electoral Tribunal may inquire into his eligibility.

Marcos also said the high court has no jurisdiction to issue a temporary restraining order to restrain Congress from canvassing his votes.

According to Marcos, the petition “defiles the sovereign will” of the people.

“To allow the defeated and rejected candidate to take over is to disenfranchise the citizens representing 58.77% of the votes cast, without fault on their part,” Marcos said in the comment.

Marcos, proclaimed president on May 25, got 31,629,783 votes based on the official tally of the presidential race.

“[I]t is respectfully prayed of the Honorable Court to protect the free choice of the Sovereign Filipino People that their president is respondent Ferdinand ‘Bongbong R. Marcos Jr.,” the comment read.

The petition sought to cancel Marcos' COC and urged the SC to issue a TRO enjoining and restraining the Senate and House of Representatives from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos and proclaiming him as president.

In the comment, Marcos argued that he did not commit any material misrepresentation in his COC as the penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification was never imposed against him.

“At the very core of the argument of petitioners is the mistaken assumption that the perpetual disqualification under Section 286 (c) of the 1977 NIRC, as amended, is automatically imposed upon the mere fact of conviction,” the comment read.

The son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., Marcos also denied that he attempted to mislead, misinform, and deceive the electorate when he filed his COC.

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

The petitioners argue that Marcos’ continued non-filing of his tax returns is “tantamount to a continuing violation” of Section 45 of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC). —KBK, GMA News