MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections has committed to resolve the pending cases related to presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the next month.
Comelec Commissioner George Garcia in a streamed press conference on Thursday said he was informed by Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan that he is committing that “before the end of April, a decision by the en banc will be forthcoming.”
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“A decision in these cases, the consolidated cases as well as the case with motion for reconsideration will be decided before the election, but earlier, even before the end of April,” Garcia added.
This means that a decision may be released at the earliest in the second week of April and at the latest, the third week of April.
The newly appointed commissioner stressed that he was not privy to the discussion of the cases as he had long recused from deliberations of the said cases since he was a former legal counsel of Marcos.
A total of seven legal challenges were filed to block Marcos’ presidential bid.
The Comelec’s Second Division junked the petition to cancel Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy filed by Martial Law victims, through lawyer Theodore Te. The group filed an appeal on the dismissal of their plea to the en banc.
Petitioners seeking Marcos’ disqualification — Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party and the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses (CARMMA) and Martial Law survivor Bonifacio Ilagan — have also filed their motion for reconsideration on February 15.
At least one more disqualification case, filed by Pudno nga Ilokano, is pending at the division level.
The petitions are anchored on Marcos’ conviction of failure to file Income Tax Returns for four years.
The challenges filed against Marcos’ presidential bid are expected to reach the Supreme Court.
Marcos and his tandem, vice presidential aspirant Sara Duterte, remain frontrunners in pre-elections survey as they enjoy double-digit leads over their rivals.