Disqualification Case To Be A Burden For Bongbong, A Test For Comelec – Expert

The disqualification case filed against former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. may be a burden for his presidential campaign, according to a political analyst.

Speaking with “The Chiefs” on One News on Tuesday, Nov. 2, Stratbase ADR Institute president Dindo Manhit said the petition filed by martial law victims will also be a test for the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“The disqualification case could be an irritant depending on how the candidate will address this issue. But if there’s substance to that disqualification case, like in this case… if there’s really tax evasion, there’s a question of integrity already,” he said.

“It could be a burden, especially if this drags and other issues related to it can be thrown… that can really derail any attempt by Bongbong Marcos to project or position himself as one that has integrity, that can be trusted, that breaks away from the past of the Marcos legacy,” he added.

Manhit noted the petitioners will also face a challenge in stating their case before the Comelec, noting that it can be an opportunity to question not just the integrity of the former senator, but also the of entire Marcos family.

He recognized that the case may take some time, citing previous cases filed against presidential candidates.

Petition

On Tuesday, six leaders from human rights, political detainees and medical groups asked the Comelec to cancel or “deny due course” the certificate of candidacy (COC) of Marcos in next year's elections as they claimed it “contains multiple false material representations.”

The petitioners were Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal and Josephine Lascano.

“Marcos falsified his COC when he claimed that he was eligible to be a candidate for president of the Philippines in the 2022 national elections when in fact he is disqualified from doing so,” the statement of the group read.

Citing a decision from the regional trial court (RTC) of Quezon City dated July 27, 1995, the petitioners pointed out that Marcos is not eligible to run for any public office as he is a convicted criminal for his multiple failures to file income tax returns.

The petition argued that the conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and no longer appealed before the Supreme Court, thus becoming a final and unappealable conviction.

They also emphasized the crimes for which Marcos was convicted by final judgment are also crimes involving moral turpitude.

Lawyer Enrique dela Cruz cited a previous case of moral turpitude – involving a lawmaker convicted of libel – that led to disqualification in elections.

“[T]he offense, although there was no imprisonment, but since there was a conviction and he was made to pay a fine, the Supreme Court said that this constitutes moral turpitude because it is a transgression of the law,” Dela Cruz told “The Big Story” on One News on Tuesday.

Dela Cruz stressed that tax evasion is a serious offense and doing it for several years also constitutes moral turpitude.

“So, kung ‘yun ang standard na gagamitin natin, ‘yung transgression of law na merong deliberate intent, mag-qua-qualify ‘yung tax evasion,” he said.

He noted that material misrepresentation is one of the grounds for the COC to be canceled.

“If you made a material misrepresentation, you lied and that is under oath. You lied under oath. The penalty is that the certificate of candidacy can be canceled and it means you were never a candidate, you cannot be substituted,” Dela Cruz emphasized.

Under election rules, any person who has been convicted of a crime with a penalty of more than 18 months in prison or for a crime involving moral turpitude is disqualified from running for any public post.

In 1995, a Quezon City RTC convicted Marcos, then a congressman, for failing to file his income tax returns and pay income tax from 1982 to 1985. At least two cases carried a penalty of imprisonment for three years and a fine of P30,000 each.

Ruling on the Marcos’ appeal, the CA dropped the prison sentence but affirmed the conviction on charges for failing to file tax returns. It also ordered the son and namesake of the former dictator to pay deficiencies to the government.

According to former SC associate justice Antonio Carpio, the ruling of the appellate court removed the possibility of barring Marcos from running for public office on the basis of getting a penalty of imprisonment for at least 18 months.

But he pointed out that a case can be made on the whether the conviction constitutes a crime of moral turpitude.

“Moral turpitude is a broad term, and that will be for the Comelec initially and the Supreme Court to decide if the failure to file income tax returns for several years repeatedly constitutes moral turpitude,” he said in an interview with “The Chiefs” on One News last Friday, Oct. 29.

“My opinion is, if it’s just one year, you can say that it’s not moral turpitude, you just forgot about it… But if you repeatedly failed to file it consecutively for several years, it would like look like the reasoning tends to evade payment of the tax,” he added.

Misleading

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez clarified that his previous remark that there is “no clear basis for the disqualification case” against Marcos was made before a group filed a petition against the presidential hopeful.

For this reason, Jimenez told “One Balita Pilipinas” on One PH on Wednesday, Nov. 3, that his comment could not be used after the filing of the case.

Jimenez also explained he was talking about why Marcos was not disqualified despite the conviction when he ran for vice president in 2016. Jimenez noted that at that time there was no disqualification case against Marcos before the Comelec.

“The PR (press release) is misleading…That quote was not intended in any way as a comment on the current petition recently filed,” Jimenez told the media, referring to the press statement released by the camp of Marcos on Wednesday.

Marcos’ camp on Wednesday issued a press release claiming that Jimenez said in an interview that the disqualification case against him has “no clear basis” and that “he doesn’t meet the criteria” for the disqualification.

Jimenez bared that the poll body will be conducting a hearing on the matter.

He said it must be proven that there was material misrepresentation in the filing of the COC.

‘Unworthy of votes’

Party-list group Akbayan on Wednesday welcomed the filing of the disqualification petition against Marcos, whom it described as a “tax evader legally and morally unworthy of the taxpayers' votes.”

"We join the call to disqualify Bongbong Marcos. He is not only legally barred to run for president, he is also morally unfit,” said Akbayan first nominee Perci Cendaña.

“His tax evasion scheme is a crime against generations of heavily-taxed Filipino people. A big-time tax evader is a liar, cheater and a thief. If Bongbong cannot be trusted with his taxes, he most certainly cannot be entrusted with the presidency," he added.