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A petition to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of presumptive president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in Eleksyon 2022 has reached the Supreme Court (SC), asking for an issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the counting of votes cast for him and his proclamation should he win.
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Petitioners Father Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Celia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal, and Josephine Lascano have asked the High Court to issue a TRO enjoining and restraining the Senate and House of Representatives from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos and proclaiming him as president should he win the May 9 polls.
The petitioners have further asked the SC to:
- give due course to the petition;
- grant the relief prayed for by reversing and setting aside the resolution dated May 10, 2022 and the resolution dated January 17, 2022 of the Commission on Elections (Comelec);
- cancel and declare void ab initio the COC for president filed by Marcos and, in the process, declare him to have never been a candidate in the 2022 national elections; and
- make permanent the TRO issued against Congress and enjoin and restrain Congress from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos for president.
“Elections are more than a numbers game. The will of the people as expressed through the ballot cannot cure the vice of ineligibility. The balance must always tilt in favor of upholding and enforcing the law,” the petition read.
“A Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from this Court is the only remedy available to enjoin and restrain the Congress of the Philippines from rendering this Petition moot and, in the event this Court rules in favor of the petitioners, allowing a candidacy that should never have been to ripen into a presidency of an ineligible candidate,” it added.
GMA News Online has contacted Marcos' camp to get their comment but has yet to receive a reply as of posting time.
'Should push through'
House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez however said Congress You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. with the canvassing of votes for president and vice president next week.
"We have a constitutional duty to perform, and we should do it unless the Supreme Court stops us,” Rodriguez said on Tuesday.
"Clearly, the Constitution directs us to do the canvass. It even sets a timeline. We have to carry out this mandate, unless and until there is a restraining order from the Supreme Court,” he added.
The lawmaker warned his colleagues against possible efforts by some sectors to use the cases in the SC to disrupt the canvassing of votes.
"The tabulation should proceed smoothly and speedily, after which, Congress should determine and proclaim the winners,” Rodriguez said.
Comelec will wait, abide SC ruling
The Commission on Elections said it will wait and abide by the decision of the SC on the petition filed.
“Given that the same is already lodged, again with the Supreme Court and has taken cognizance of it, we will await the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter. And again, the Comelec will always abide by any order, notice, or decision of the highest court of the land,” Comelec acting spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said.
He said the poll body will also not preempt any action of the Congress which is set to canvass the votes for the president and vice president.
“The matter will always be ultimately deliberated given that it’s the canvassing, which is being an asked to stop by the NBOC for president and vice president and as we all know the joint Houses of Congress. And Comelec will not pre-empt any action on their part because under law they are the one to canvass and ultimately proclaimed the winning candidates for president and vice president,” he said.
The Comelec En Banc earlier affirmed the poll body's former Second Division's resolution that You do not have permission to view the full content of this post. Log in or register now. filed by Buenafe to cancel Marcos' COC.
Similar to the ruling on the disqualification cases, the Comelec En Banc said the petitioners failed to raise new matters or issues that would warrant the reversal of the former Comelec Second Division's ruling.
The Comelec En Banc rejected the following assertions of the petitioners:
- The Second Division grievously erred in characterizing the petition as susceptible to summary dismissal and in finding that the petition combined for disqualification and cancellation;
- The Second Division grievously erred in ruling that Marcos’ material representation such as that he is eligible for the position of president and that he has not been convicted of a crime punished with the penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office, were not false; and
- Contrary to the finding of the Second Division, Marcos deliberately attempted to mislead, misinform, and deceive the electorate.
The poll body also rejected the petitioner's appeal for the “automatic and mandatory inhibition” of the members of the Comelec Second Division from participating in the discussions of the motion for reconsideration in the En Banc.
The Comelec En Banc refuted the assertion that the petition should not be summarily dismissed.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia earlier said the petitioners could still appeal to the SC in case of an unfavorable decision.
Garcia recused himself from the case as he used to be Marcos' election lawyer.
As of 2:47 p.m. on Friday, Marcos was still leading the partial and unofficial count of votes with 31,104,175 votes based on data from the Comelec Transparency Media Server.
Meanwhile, his running mate Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte also maintains a huge lead among other vice presidential candidates with 31,561,948 votes as of the same period in the same partial and unofficial count.
A total of 55,197,306 votes out of the 67,442,616 registered voters have already come in as of posting. A total of 98.35% of the election returns have been processed so far. —with a report from Anna Felicia Bajo and Richa Noriega/KG/AOL, GMA News
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