Another disqualification case filed against presidential candidate former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (BBM) was dismissed by the Commission on Elections, Thursday.
The Comelec Firs Division junked the consolidated petitions of Bonifacio Ilagan, Abubakar Mangelen, and Akbayan “for lack of merit,” according to Jimenez.
“WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Petitions are hereby DISMISSED for lack of merit,” read the 41-page ruling penned by Commissioner Aimee Ferolino.
“Contrary to petitioners’ assertion, the penalty of perpetual disqualification by reason of failure to file income tax returns was not provided for under the original 1977 NIRC,” it added.
“To be clear, the penalty of perpetual disqualification came into force only upon the effectivity of PD 1994 on 01 January 1986,” it added.
According to the ruling, the penalty cannot be made to apply to the respondent’s tax violations, which were done before the effectivity of the said law, in accord with the constitutional prohibition against ex-post-facto laws.
“The petitioners said that despite its omission from the trial court and Court of Appeals decisions, the penalty of perpetual disqualification was ‘deemed written therein,'” the ruling said.
Disqualification case vs. BBM junked by Comelec First Division
“The contention lacks merit,” it added.
“A penalty that would deprive a citizen of his political right to be voted for in an election should be clearly, unequivocally, and expressly stated in the decision,” the ruling said.
The petitioners said BBM should not be allowed to run for president because he was convicted for violating the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, he should not hold any public office.
They said that in 1995, the Quezon City court found BBM guilty of not filing his income tax returns from 1982 to 1985. The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction but removed the imprisonment sentence. Marcos did not appeal, the petitioners said.
Comelec’s ruling also indicated that BBM’s failure to file income tax returns from 1982 to 1985 was not a crime that involved moral turpitude.
“After carefully examining each argument of the parties and the circumstances surrounding respondents failure to file income tax, we find to rule in respondent’s favor,” the resolution read.
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