From 3 G’s to 3 F’s

While he may be held at The Hague to stand trial for alleged “crimes against humanity,” former president Rodrigo Duterte remains a candidate for the Davao City mayoralty race in this coming May 12 national and local elections. No less than the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared the name of the former Davao City mayor is already in the printed ballots.

Commissioner Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda Jr. told us this at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay last Wednesday, a few hours after ex-president Duterte was whisked on board a private Lear jet bound for the Netherlands. It was after Mr. Duterte was served the warrant of arrest from The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) after his arrival from Hong Kong Tuesday morning. He was boarded on a hurriedly arranged flight late Tuesday night. The ICC case stemmed from the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in carrying out his all-out war against illegal drugs.

“He (ex-president Duterte) is still a candidate because the only way to stop being a candidate is if he withdraws,” Maceda pointed out. Moreover, Maceda added Mr. Duterte is not facing any disqualification case pending before the Comelec. Maceda believes the ex-president is not about to give up the mayoralty contest to his rival.

If we follow our country’s existing election laws, even if the former president is convicted at The Hague, the ruling is not yet final. Conviction is automatically appealable to the Appeals Court, a separate and higher judicial body of the ICC.

The former president is running with his youngest son, incumbent Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte, who slid down to run as his vice mayoralty running mate. Former Duterte Cabinet assistant secretary Karlo Nograles III is facing off with his former boss to contest his comeback bid as mayor of Davao City.

The former president turns 80 years old this March 28, when the official campaign period for all aspirants in the local elections starts.

Mr. Duterte is accused as “an indirect co-perpetrator for the crimes against humanity, allegedly committed in the Philippines” from Nov. 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019, during which time he was mayor and then president. The ICC case also included his “alleged role as the head of the DDS, or the Davao Death Squad, while he was then mayor of Davao City. In 1986, the late president Corazon Aquino appointed Duterte as OIC vice mayor. Duterte later ran for mayor and won, taking the top post from 1988 to 1998, from 2001 to 2010 and yet again from 2013 to 2016.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia concurred and agreed with Maceda that Mr. Duterte’s being out of the country while undergoing ICC trial is not ground to disqualify him or prevent him from campaigning from abroad. Garcia confirmed Mr. Duterte’s name is still on the list of candidates and voters in Davao city can still vote for him if they want to.

However, if a disqualification case is filed against Mr. Duterte, the Comelec is mandated to take the appropriate action.

In case ex-president Duterte wins in the local elections, Maceda conceded it might become more problematic. According to the history of ICC cases, it usually takes at least two to a maximum of seven to eight years to either acquit or convict the accused.

Under our country’s Omnibus Election Code, Maceda explained, the winning candidate must comply with the qualifications provided, like taking his oath of office before he or she can assume his or her elective post. Only after this required assumption in office can it be determined if the post will remain vacant permanently or temporarily, in case Mr. Duterte’s trial at The Hague drags on.

“As far as the law stands, the vice mayor would be acting or performing the responsibility (if the elected mayor cannot do it),” Maceda pointed out.

On reports of the alleged vote-buying incident during the campaign rally attended by Mr. Duterte with overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Hong Kong, Maceda quoted the Comelec chairman as saying the poll body did not receive any direct evidence nor formal complaint of purported incident of money changing hands. According to allegations, as much as HK$200, equivalent to P1,500, was given out during the campaign rally at the Special Administrative Region of China.

Moreover, Maceda agreed with the Comelec decision not to pursue the investigation further because of “territorial jurisdiction,” since it allegedly happened outside the country. Hence, he cited, it is beyond the Comelec’s jurisdiction and applicable laws of the Philippines.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) appointed Maceda in October 2022. Turning 61 years old exactly on election day, Maceda is the namesake son of the late former Senate president Ernesto Maceda Sr. The young Maceda was once an election lawyer and election law professor at Arellano University and former dean of the College of Law at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

Like his late father, Commissioner Maceda was also once a politician. He was first elected as councilor in the city of Manila in 1988. As the topnotcher in the elections among the councilors, he succeeded then vice mayor Danilo Lacuna when the latter ran for the mayor in 1992. On a light note, Commissioner Maceda wisecracked he only agreed as last-minute guest of our news forum because I was named after his late mother, “Marichu” Perez-Maceda. He used to write a column in The STAR.

As the head of the Comelec Kontra Bigay Task Force, Maceda vowed the poll body’s commitment to closely watch the on-going election campaign activities to prevent all forms of vote-buying and cheating in the coming midterm polls.

Maceda disclosed that the Comelec has adopted innovative measures to ensure that “force, fraud and funds” will not be tools to win in the elections. It used to be called “guns, goods and gold.”

With the evolution from manual voting and counting of votes, Maceda touted Comelec’s maiden shift to the automated election system in 2010 not only changed but also created a new “genre of vote-buying.” In my next column, Maceda tells us how to defeat these new tools of election cheating.