MANILA, Philippines — Human rights groups formed during the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s martial law rule moved to block his son and namesake Bongbong’s presidential bid, but his camp deemed it a “predictable nuisance petition.”
Lawyer Victor Rodriguez, spokesperson of Marcos, refused to comment on the Petition to Cancel or Deny Due Course Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy before the Commission on Elections, pending their receipt of the official copy of the plea.
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“We shall address this predictable nuisance Petition at the proper time and forum—after we receive the official copy of the same,” Rodriguez said.
He added: “Until then, we will refrain from commenting on their propaganda. Our camp does NOT engage in gutter politics. Our campaign is about nation building.”
But Fides Lim, one of the petitioners and spokesperson of advocacy group Kapatid, said that their petition is not propaganda as it asserts truth.
“It’s about integrity, it’s about morality, it’s about character, and [Bongbong] and the whole of the Marcos family do not have an ounce of that,” she said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.
The petition
Six leaders from groups of political detainees, human rights and medical organizations accused Marcos of filing a COC that “contains multiple false material representations” before the Commission on Elections.
The petitioners pointed out that Marcos declared under oath that he has never been found liable for any offense, which carries the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office. This was when he ticked the NO box on the COC he filed.
But they noted that a Quezon City Regional Trial Court, in 1995, convicted Marcos on four counts of violation of the National Internal Revenue Code for failure to file income tax returns from 1982-1985.
“Clearly, the inescapable fact is that the mere fact of conviction for violations of the provisions of the NIRC perpetually disqualifies respondent Marcos Jr. from participating in any election, more so to run for any public office,” the petition read.
They also argued that Marcos is not eligible to hold any position of public office due to his convicting of a crime involving moral turpitude.