Marcos DQ petition raffled off at Comelec

The ball starts rolling for the petition filed by civil groups for the cancellation of the certificate of candidacy (COC) of former senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., a week after it was filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Nov. 2.

At a virtual press conference yesterday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the petition has been raffled off to the poll body’s second division headed by Commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho Jr.

As of yesterday, the second division has yet to issue summons, Jimenez said.

“After the summons, they will have five days to file an answer,” he added.

Once submitted for resolution, no more hearings will be held, unless there are some clarifications by the Comelec, he said.

If the second division comes out with a split decision, a guest member will be invited before it will be reviewed by the Comelec en banc.

In another interview, Jimenez said they are targeting to resolve all petitions for cancellation of COCs, including that of Marcos, before the poll body releases the official list of candidates for the May 2022 elections.

Civic group members Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal and Josephine Lascano filed a petition on Tuesday, asking the Comelec to cancel the candidacy of Marcos over alleged “false material representation” of his COC.

The petitioners argued that Marcos is not qualified to run for the presidency as he has been convicted of violating the National Internal Revenue Code for failure to pay taxes from 1982 to 1985 based on a ruling of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court on July 27, 1995.