The Commission on Elections First Division dismissed the last Eleksyon 2022 disqualification complaint pending at the division level against presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., citing “lack of merit.”
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant Petition, is hereby DENIED for LACK OF MERIT,” read the decision shared with media on Wednesday.
Comelec Commissioners Socorro Inting, Aimee Ferolino, and Aimee Torrefranca-Neri signed the decision.
Pudno Nga Ilokano (Ang Totoong Ilokano) filed the petition, which came from Marcos Jr.’s conviction on tax-related charges in 1995.
Margarita Salonga Salandanan, Crisanto Ducusin Palabay, Mario Flores Ben, Danilo Austria Consumido, Raoul Hafalla Tividad, Nida Mallare Gatchallan, and Nomer Calulot Kuan are among the petitioners in the aforementioned disqualification action filed against Marcos.
The group claimed in their petition that Marcos was convicted eight times in 1995 by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC RTC), Branch 105 for failing to file his income tax returns as governor of Ilocos Norte for the taxable years 1982 to 1985 and for failing to pay the corresponding deficiency taxes.
Last disqualification case vs. Marcos Jr. junked
“If failure to file income tax return is considered alone, it would appear that it is not inherently wrong. This is supported by the fact that the filing of income tax return is only an obligation created by law and the omission to do so is only considered as wrong because the law penalizes it,” the Comelec division said.
Marcos Jr. paid his income tax liability, though not in whole, and he didn’t do so knowingly, according to the division.
Although Marcos neglected to file his ITR for multiple years, the division stated that “there is still no tax evasion to speak of as no tax was actually intentionally evaded. The govt was not defrauded.”
The division also decided that petitioners were “gravely incorrect” when they claimed Marcos should be disqualified since he had been convicted of a crime punishable by more than 18 months in prison.
The disqualification case brought against Marcos Jr. via consolidated petitions of Bonifacio Ilagan, Abubakar Mangelen, and Akbayan was likewise dismissed “for lack of merit” by the Comelec division in February.
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