Comelec: SC junking pleas vs Marcos Jr.’s candidacy affirms poll body decision
MANILA, Philippines (Updated 11:49 a.m.) — The Commission on Elections said the junking of petitions calling for the cancelation of president-elect Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s candidacy may be seen as an affirmation of an earlier decision of the poll body that dismissed the same.
The Comelec said it has yet to receive a copy of the Supreme Court decision but welcomes the development.
“If this is indeed an the affirmation by the Highest Court of the decision of the COMELEC, then it is a testament to the commitment of this Commission to the rule of law and it’s faithfulness to our Constitutional mandate, moreso, its fidelity in safeguarding the will of the people in all electoral exercises,” acting Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco told reporters on Wednesday.
A day after the elections, the poll body dismissed four cases against the campaign of Marcos Jr. that included three disqualification suits and one petition to cancel his certificate of candidacy (COC).
Partial and unofficial results then already showed Marcos Jr. leading the polls by a wide margin.
READ: Comelec en banc junks last of Marcos disqualification, cancellation cases
The group of Fr. Christian Buenafe and the group of martial law survivors led by Bonifacio Ilagan, who were behind the petition to cancel Marcos Jr.’s COC and a disqualification suit respectively, brought their petitions to the Supreme Court.
The court then voted to junk the petition to cancel the COC, while the disqualification case was dismissed.
READ: Finally at SC: Petitioners bring fight vs Marcos' candidacy to highest court
Former ad interim Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan also lauded the SC’s decision in a separate statement, saying it would “put to rest questions on the eligibility and validity” of the poll body’s resolutions under his leadership.
“I personally view the Supreme Court’s concurrence to our legal reasoning as another feather in the COMELEC’s proverbial cap for the 2022 National and Local Elections,” Pangarungan said.
“I express my warmest congratulations anew to President-elect Marcos. The COMELEC has enabled the conduct of a fair and credible democratic exercise.”
Marcos Jr., who won the recently concluded polls with a historic mandate of over 31 million votes, will take his oath as the 17th president of the Republic of the Philippines on Thursday, June 30. — Kaycee Valmonte with reports from Kristine Joy Patag
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