By REY PANALIGAN
President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. will assume his post as the country’s 17th President on Thursday noon, June 30, without any legal impediment on his qualifications to the highest elective post.
This after the Supreme Court (SC), during its full court session yesterday dismissed the two petitions which challenged his qualifications, sought the cancellation of his certificate of candidacy, and pleaded to stop the canvass of votes in his favor and his proclamation as President.
A copy of the decision written for the full court by Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda was not immediately available.
A press briefer issued by the SC’s public information office (PIO) stated:
“The Supreme Court En Banc, during its session today, 28 June 2022, dismissed the petitions in G.R. No. 260374 (Fr. Christian B. Buenafe, et al. v. Commission on Elections, et al.) and G. R. No. 260426 (Bonifacio P. Ilagan, et al. v. Commission on Elections, et al.).
“Thirteen Justices voted to dismiss the petitions, while two Justices took no part in the case.
“The Court also affirmed the 17 January 2022 and 10 May 2022 Resolutions of the Comelec in SPA No. 21-156 (DC) and Comelec Resolutions dated 10 February 2022 and 10 May 2022 in SPA No. 21-212 (DC).
“The petitioners assailed the subject Resolutions of the Commission of Elections (COMELEC) which dismissed for lack of merit the Petitions against respondent Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. for the denial or cancellation of the latter’s Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the position of President of the Republic of the Philippines in the 2022 National Elections, and denied the subsequent motions for reconsideration.
“Likewise, they (petitioners) sought the issuance of a temporary restraining order against Congress from canvassing the votes cast for Marcos Jr. and proclaiming him as President pending resolution of the petitions before the High Court.
“The Court held that in the exercise of its power to decide the present controversy led them to no other conclusion but that respondent Marcos Jr. is qualified to run for and be elected to public office.
“Likewise, his COC, being valid and in accord with the pertinent law, was rightfully upheld by the Comelec.”
Aside from Justice Zalameda, those who voted to dismiss the two petitions were Chief Justice Alexander G. Gesmundo, Senior Associate Justice Mariv Mario Victor F. Leonen, and Associate Justices Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguioa, Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Amy C. Lazaro Javier, Mario V. Lopez, Samuel H. Gaerlan, Ricardo R. Rosario, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Japar B. Dimaampao, Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Maria Filomena D. Singh.
The PIO said that Associate Justices Henri Jean Paul B. Inting and Antonio T. Kho, Jr. did not take part in the deliberations.
It said Justice Inting’s sibling is incumbent Comelec Commissioner Socorro B. Inting, while Justice Kho, Jr. was a former Comelec commissioner.
It also said it will upload the decision to the SC website once it receives an official copy from the Office of the Clerk of Court En Banc.
In his comment on the two petitions, “Bongbong” Marcos asked the SC “to protect the free choice of the sovereign Filipino people” as he pleaded the dismissal of the cases.
“To allow the defeated and rejected candidate to take over is to disenfranchise the citizens representing 58.77 per cent of the votes cast, without fault on their part,” Marcos said in his comment filed by his lawyer Estelito P. Mendoza.
Marcos garnered 31,629,783 as against the 15,033,773 votes of his closest rival, Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo. Congress had proclaimed Marcos as President-elect.
Government lawyers from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) also sought the dismissal of the two petitions.
They told the SC that “Congress had already steered the course of the next six years when it upheld the people’s will and declared private respondent (Marcos Jr.) as the President-elect.”
They also said: “The electoral mandate from the sovereign Filipino people is the ultimate political expression that cannot be assailed at all. “It now behooves the Honorable Court to take the helm and steady the rudder onto the path of unity.”
