On Tuesday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) dismissed three appeals attempting to overturn the dismissal of disqualification cases brought against Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr in the presidential election of 2022.
The decision was made a day after the May 9 elections, with the most recent incomplete and unofficial results showing Marcos far ahead of his rivals for the presidency.
Bonifacio Ilagan, a human rights advocate and a victim of martial law, members of the Akbayan Citizens Action Party, and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Commissioner Abubakar Mangelen, submitted the three motions covered by the ruling.
According to the petitioners, BBM should not be permitted to run for president due to his conviction for violating the Internal Revenue Code, which carries a lifetime ban from holding any public office.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia previously stated that the petitioners might still appeal to the Supreme Court if the ruling was not favorable.
As BBM’s former election lawyer, Garcia recused himself from the case.
According to the incomplete and unofficial total of votes from 97.14 percent of the nationwide election returns (as published in the Comelec Transparency Server), BBM and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte are leading the presidential and vice-presidential races.
At 11:17 a.m., Marcos received 30,790,621 votes on Tuesday. The following are the other presidential contenders and their vote totals:
- Vice President Leni Robredo 14,694,836
- Senator Manny Pacquiao 3,582,508
- Manila Mayor Isko Moreno 1,869,550
- Senator Panfilo Lacson 876,320
- Faisal Mangondato 245,576
- Ernesto Abella 112,086
- Leody De Guzman 91,227
- Norberto Gonzales 87,933
- Jose Montemayor 59,374
Comelec junks appeals vs. BBM
Duterte was elected with 31,202,591 votes. The following are the other vice presidential candidates and their vote totals:
- Senator Francis Pangilinan 9,151,555
- Senator Vicente Sotto III 8,133,145
- Dr. Willie Ong 1,828,992
- Buhay party-list Representative Lito Atienza 264,314
- Manny Lopez 155,379
- Prof. Walden Bello 98,611
- Carlos Serapio 88,809
- Rizalito David 54,857
Actor Robin Padilla ranked number 1 on the unofficial election results for 12 Senate seats.
- Robin Padilla 26,140,365
- Loren Legarda 23,756,126
- Raffy Tulfo 22,960,975
- Win Gatchalian 20,193,030
- Chiz Escudero 19,874,056
- Mark Villar 19,012,083
- Alan Peter Cayetano 18,906,800
- Migz Zubiri 18,398,847
- Joel Villanueva 18,150,092
- JV Ejercito 15,543,024
- Risa Hontiveros 15,147,643
- Jinggoy Estrada 14,822,456
“We’re still on guarded optimism… sana magtuluy-tuloy,” Marcos’ spokesman Atty. Vic Rodriguez said.
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