Despite the camp of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. branding as “trash”, “nuisance petition” and “cheap political gimmick” the petition to cancel his certificate of candidacy and disqualify him from running for president, Marcos, Jr. asked the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to give him more time to file a verified answer, which the COMELEC granted.
No amount of extension will alter the irrefutable facts and the unassailable laws warranting the disqualification of Marcos, Jr.
The unmistakable facts are:
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Marcos, Jr. was convicted of willful and repeated failure to file his income tax returns (ITRs) from 1982 to 1985; and
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His conviction has long been final since he abandoned his appeal with the Supreme Court.
The following pertinent laws remain valid in the statute books:
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Consequent to his final sentence of fine for failure to file his income tax returns, he is “perpetually disqualified from holding any public office” under Section 228(c) of 1987 National Internal Revenue Code; and
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Such conviction also disqualifies him from being “a candidate or to hold any office” under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code because his tax offense involves moral turpitude.
It must be clarified that the petition does not ask the COMELEC to alter or modify the Court Appeals decision affirming Marcos, Jr.’s conviction for non-filing of ITRs but to enforce the pertinent laws mandating his disqualification as an accessory penalty attached to his conviction.
EDCEL C. LAGMAN