ManilaTimes-Feb 10
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) lifted obstacles to the presidential bid of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. when it dismissed all of the remaining disqualification cases filed against him. In a 44-page resolution penned by Commissioner Aimee Ferolino of the First Division and concurred in by Commissioner Marlon Casquejo, the poll body dismissed the three remaining petitions for lack of merit. To erase doubts as to whether the failure to file tax returns is a crime involving moral turpitude, the poll body cited the pronouncement of the Supreme Court in the case of the Republic of the Philippines vs. Ferdinand R. Marcos II and Imelda R. Marcos wherein the high tribunal ruled that failure to file a tax return is not a crime involving moral turpitude. The commissioners said that Marcos admitted the non-payment of fines during the preliminary conference last January 7. In a 32-page ruling signed by Presiding Commissioner Socorro Inting and concurred in by Commissioners Antonio Kho and Rey Bulay, the commission ruled that there was no misrepresentation committed by the former senator. “Unmistakably, there is no intention on the part of respondent to deceive the electorate as to his qualifications for public office,” it said. The petitioners — Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal and Josephine Lascano — claimed that Marcos’ CoC contained several false representations. Read more at: https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/02/10/news/comelec-junks-marcos-dq-case/1832499
