By GDM Staff 

 

Petitioners have filed their respective appeals to the Commission on Elections to reverse its division’s ruling that junked the disqualification suits against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

On Tuesday, the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law and the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party filed their respective motions for reconsideration praying for the reversal of the Comelec’s Former First Division’s February 10 ruling.

The assailed resolution dismissed the consolidated disqualification petitions against Marcos due to lack of merit. It held that Marcos did not commit a crime involving moral turpitude when he was convicted for non-filing of Income Tax Returns for four years.

But CARMMA told the Comelec: “With all due respect to the Honorable First Division, this oversimplification of the nature of the crimes involving moral turpitude—classifying the same as either mala in se or malum prohibitum is not on all fours as how moral turpitude is classified.”

“Simply put, whether a crime involves moral turpitude or not is a question of facts and circumstances and does not rely solely on the elements of the crime. That the Honorable First Division ruled that failure to file a tax return is not inherently wrong on the basis that it is merely mala prohibita disregards the baseness, and vileness, of a deliberate act of cheating the government of its lifeblood,” they added.

Petitioners from Akbayan argued that the February 10 resolution of the division is invalid since it was issued by only two commissioners.

Citing the Rules of Procedure of the poll body, they said: “The word used is ‘shall’, which clearly provides that three (3) Commissioners are needed to constitute a division. Two (2) Commissioners do not suffice to validly constitute a Division that could issue a resolution for the COMELEC.”

Marcos sustained his lead as the frontrunner in the latest Pulse Asia pre-elections survey released last weekend. In the poll conducted late January, 60% of respondents said they chose him as their presidential bet.