Weak chance to pull down

Civic leaders' appeal to disqualify Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as he aims to become the
President of the country in 2022 is seen to have a weak chance to prosper. This may just favor him
indirectly for he would be considered as being bullied.
This was the realization of the election attorneys who were asked for their judgment on a petition
to disqualify him filed with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC).
The petitioners requested the COMELEC to deny Marcos' certificate of candidacy due process, or
to annul it if it had already been issued, on the grounds that he falsely stated in his COC that he was
entitled to run for office.
The petitioners stated that Marcos is ineligible to run for any public office since he is a convicted
felon, according to the petitioners. However, one of the election lawyers pointed out that under Section 12
of the Omnibus Election Code, eligibility for such convictions is lifted five years after the term is served.
He went on to say that the penalty imposed on Marcos was merely a fine, which he might claim
to have paid more than 25 years ago, or well beyond the five-year period required to lift the ban.
He doubted that the files from the 1995 case were still available. His remark reminded us of the
disappearance of key evidence in some ill-gotten money cases brought against the Marcos heirs by the
Presidential Commission on Good Government.
The petitioners recalled that Marcos was convicted of not paying income taxes, failing to file his
income tax forms from 1982 to 1984, and not paying income tax for 1985, when he was vice governor
and then governor of Ilocos Norte, by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court in 1995.
For each of the offenses, he received a prison sentence. In 1985, he was sentenced to three years
in prison for failing to pay income tax.
Marcos was acquitted of all counts of non-payment of income taxes by the Court of Appeals
Special Third Division in 1997, however he was found guilty of failing to file ITRs. The CA reduced the
penalty for the conviction to a P30,000 fine plus a surcharge.
According to the petitioners, Marcos made a misrepresentation in his COC when he stated that he
was eligible to run despite the fact that he was ineligible due of his earlier conviction.
The petitioners referenced Presidential Decree No. 1994, which changed the 1977 tax legislation
under which Marcos was convicted, notwithstanding the fact that the CA did not impose any prison
sentence and only P30,000 in fines.
According to them, the amendment stipulated that if the criminal is a public official, he is
permanently barred from holding any public office.
The petitioners also took aim at Marcos' failure to file ITRs for several years, which they claimed
was a crime of moral turpitude that disqualifies a person from holding public office if convicted.
To ensure that everyone is served with justice, the Comelec must weigh facts in a very correct
and just manner. In the end, the wellbeing of the country is at stake.