MANILA, Philippines — In their latest submission to the Commission on Elections, petitioners seeking the cancellation of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Certificate of Candidacy submitted a new certification stating that the court has no records of the respondent’s compliance or payment of fine in his tax case.
In a 67-page Memorandum and Formal Offer of Evidence, petitioners through their lawyers led by Theodore Te made a last bid for the Comelec’s Second Division to deny due course or cancel Marcos’ COC for the 2022 national elections.
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"As a consequence of the above, also excluding the name of respondent Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. from the list of official candidates for President in the official ballot for the May 2022 National Elections," they prayed to the Comelec.
The petitioners accused Marcos of making two material misrepresentations in his COC. First was stating he is eligible for the office he is seeking to be elected to, and when he declared under oath by ticking the "no" box that he has never been found liable for any offense that carries perpetual disqualification penalty.
"As a matter of law and fact, respondent Marcos Jr. was, is, and remains to be disqualified to run for any office due to his conviction for violating the [National Internal Revenue Code], which carries with it the consequence of perpetual disqualification," their memorandum read.
In arguing this, petitioners cited the Quezon City Regional Trial Court conviction of Marcos of non-filing of his Income Tax Returns from 1982-1985 — the same argument raised in separate disqualification suits also filed against Marcos.
They argued that Marcos’s conviction by final judgment for violating the tax code "automatically and ipso facto carries the penalty of perpetual disqualification."
"This notwithstanding, and despite the passage of over 20 years since the finality of his criminal conviction, Respondent Marcos Jr., to this date, has arrogantly and obstinately failed to serve his criminal penalty as imposed by the Regional Trial Court in its Decision dated July 27, 1995, as partly affirmed by the Court of Appeals in its Decision dated October 31, 1997," they said.
Certifications say no records of compliance
Petitioners also raised that Marcos, in his seven-page reply, has not refuted some allegations against him. He also failed to present a document showing that his “service of penalty imposed pursuant to his criminal conviction, specifically the payment of fine.”
The petitioners pointed out that Marcos’ lawyers even told the Commission that the Court of Appeals order to pay the Bureau of Internal Revenue "the deficiency income taxes due with interest at the legal rate until fully paid" is "unclear."
The CA has ordered Marcos to pay the BIR of deficiency income taxes due with interest at the legal rate, and a fine of P2,000 for each charge in the criminal cases for failure to file ITRs for 1982-1984 and the fine of P30,000 for the tax year 1985, with surcharges.
Quoting part of the reply, they said Marcos stated that the CA ruling “does not specify the particular deficiency income tax which appellant therein is required to pay with interest at the rate until fully paid.”
Marcos’ lawyers also told the Commission that what was clear was that Marcos was ordered to pay the fines for the cases.
Citing this, the petitioners asserted: "In this case, respondent Marcos Jr., not only utterly failed in his Answer to refute the material factual allegations in the Petition, he also failed to present any evidence to show his compliance with the Decision of the [CA] and the [RTC]. Not having denied the material averments in the Petition, respondent Marcos Jr. is deemed to have admitted the same."
They also accused Marcos of "resolute refusal to comply" with the criminal penalty of the courts, citing a certification from the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 105 stating that it has no record on file of “compliance of payment or satisfaction of the Decision of the Regional Trial Court dated July 27, 1997 or the Court of Appeals dated October 31, 1997."
Petitioners also secured a new certificate, this time from the Quezon City RTC Office of the Clerk of Court stating that it has "no record of any compliance/payment of fine" in the tax case.
Part of the memo they submitted is a certification from the Quezon City Office of the Clerk of Court stating it has “no record of any compliance/payment of fine” in the tax case against Marcos. @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/NPUzBrscRU
— Kristine Patag (@kristinepatag) December 20, 2021
To note, Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code holds a person shall be disqualified to be a candidate of hold any office if he/she has been sentenced by final judgment for any offense that carries a penalty of more than 18 months sentence. The disqualification shall be deemed removed “after the expiration of a period of five years from his service of sentence.”
No interventions granted
Offices of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, which fielded Marcos as their presidential bet, sought to intervene in the case and defend the aspirant. In their Answer-in-Intervention, they claimed that Marcos withdrew his appeal to the Supreme Court and “opted to just pay the fine plus interest and surcharges” amounting to P67,137,27.
The Comelec however junked all pleas seeking to join the case and treated these as “mere scraps of paper.” It also said that it viewed the PFP pleas as “an attempt to file a belated Answer in behalf of respondent [Marcos].”
Aside from the petition to cancel his COC — which is expected to be elevated to the Supreme Court upon resolution by the Comelec — Marcos is also facing several suits seeking his disqualification.
Marcos and his campaign team played down the petitions and branded these as "nuisance cases" and "pathetic stunts."