The Philippine Commission on Elections yesterday threw out a petition seeking to bar the son of the late Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos from running in this year’s election, one of several complaints filed in an attempt to derail his presidential bid.
The petition had sought to invalidate the candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr, who has emerged as a clear favorite, stating that he had misrepresented his eligibility because of a prior tax conviction.
The second division of the commission dismissed the complaint, lawyers in the petition said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“The Second Division ruled that there was no grounds to cancel Marcos Jr’s [certificate of candidacy] on the grounds of material representation,” the lawyers said in a statement.
They said they will file a motion for reconsideration with a full bench of judges at the commission.
The complaint is among several filed by groups seeking the expulsion of Marcos — a career politician who has served as a congressman, senator and provincial governor — mostly over a 1995 conviction for tax violations while in public office, which petitioners had argued meant a lifetime election ban.
The other petitions are pending with the commission’s first division.
“We thank the Commission on Elections for upholding the law and the right of every bona fide candidate like Bongbong Marcos to run for public office free from any form of harassment and discrimination,” Marcos’ spokesman, Vic Rodriguez, said in a statement, using the candidate’s nickname.
The election to choose a successor to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is barred by the constitution from a second term, takes place on May 9.
Other top candidates include senator and retired boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief.
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