THE petitioners before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) who have made a lot of noise calling for the ‘disqualification’ of former senator, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos as presidential candidate actually only filed for the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy for president.
Although it can be argued that the result of cancelling Marcos’ COC would be the same—he would be disqualified from running for president—there is a big difference when the case is finally heard and decided by the Comelec, says spokesman James Jimenez.
In an early morning interview by GMA-7 News’ ‘Unang Balita’ on November 10, 2021, Jimenez said it would be the Comelec’s Second Division under commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho Jr. that would be handling the petition versus Marcos, stressing:
“Petition for cancellation ang pinag-uusapan natin dito.
“Hindi po siya disqualification case. Iba po ‘yon. Ang petition for cancellation, sinasabi lamang na may mali doon sa kanyang COC kaya dapat hindi tanggapin.”
(We are talking for petition for cancellation here. It is not a disqualification case; it is different. The petition for cancellation merely claims that there was something ‘wrong’ with his COC that is should not be accepted).
Jimenez also clarified that the Comelec would only have to determine if Marcos committed “material misrepresentation” when he filled-up his COC, before arriving at a decision.
“Kailangan ‘yon [material misrepresentation] ‘yung titingnan kung talaga nga bang mali ‘yung pagkakasabi niya ng no o yes or whatever. Kung mali ‘yung sagot (ni Marcos), ide-determine natin.”
Last November 2, 2021, several petitioners, all of them identified with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), officially designated as a “terrorist organization” by the government, lodged a petition before the Comelec for the cancellation of Marcos’ COC claiming he was a ‘convicted criminal’ and unfit to run after being sued by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) for the non-filing of his income tax return (ITR) from 1982 to 1985.
The CPP’s allies in the mainstream media “spin” the petition as a “disqualification” case when they filed their reports.
Marcos was sued by the BIR after his family’s return from exile and subsequently convicted by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in 1995.
“Hindi po siya disqualification case. Iba po ‘yon. Ang petition for cancellation, sinasabi lamang na may mali doon sa kanyang COC kaya dapat hindi tanggapin”– James Jimenez
On appeal, the Court of Appeals in 1997 modified the lower court’s decision by removing the penalty of imprisonment and instead ruled that Marcos should pay the amount, plus penalty, the BIR said he owed the government.
The CPP front organizations and their allies in the political opposition claimed Marcos’ old BIR case constitutes “moral turpitude,” which is a ground for disqualification of any candidate.
In reaction to the CPP-generated noise, Atty. Vic Rodriguez, Marcos’ chief of staff and spokesperson, said they are ready to answer “this predictable nuisance petition at the proper time and forum.”
Jimenez said the Comelec expects to resolve the case of Marcos and other similar petitions involving other candidates before the poll body release the final list of official candidates for next years polls by next month, or the month of December.
‘Demonization, black propaganda versus Marcos have run their course
In the absence of “material misrepresentation” when Marcos filled-up his COC, the cases against him are expected to be dismissed by the poll body.
In the pre-poll survey conducted by the country’s oldest newspaper, The Manila Times, the noise and propaganda being generated by the CPP and their allies in the political opposition and in some segments of the mainstream media never dented Marcos’ chances as the country’s next president.
The latest Manila Times survey, which covered the period when Marcos is again being vilified over his academic records (October 26, 2021 to November 2, 2021) and released on November 9, 2021, showed him with a commanding 68 percent lead from other presidential hopefuls.
Trailing far second is Vice President Leni Robredo, who only got the nod of 10.8 percent of those polled. Robredo has been known to parrot the political and propaganda lines of the CPP and also said she would be pushing for the return of the peace talks with the CPP, despite the later being officially recognized as a “terrorist organization” in most part of the world.
The 1,500 respondents were asked the simple question, ‘If the elections were to be held today, whom will you vote for president?’
The Times survey result mirrors the result of other major pre-poll surveys showing Marcos as the candidate to beat next year.