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Convicted tax evader Bongbong Marcos disqualified from running as president claims petition filed with COMELEC

On November 2 2021 a Petition to Cancel or Deny Due Course the Certificate of Candidacy of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. under Section 78 in relation to Section 74, Article IX of the Omnibus Election Code was filed with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). The Petitioners represent a cross-section of political detainees, human rights and medical organizations that opposed the Marcos dictatorship.

The Petition points out that Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy contains multiple false material representations. Specifically, Marcos falsified his Certificate of Candidacy when he claimed that he was eligible to be a candidate for President of the Philippines in the 2022 national elections when in fact he is disqualified from doing so.

Petitioners claim that Marcos is not eligible to run for any public office as he is, plainly, a convicted criminal. Marcos was convicted by the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City in a July 27 1995 Decision for his multiple failures to file income tax returns. This conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals and no longer appealed to the Supreme Court, thereby becoming a final and unappealable conviction. Having been convicted by final judgment of a violation of the National Internal Revenue Code (NIRC), Marcos is perpetually disqualified from holding any public office, to vote and to participate in any election as mandated under the NIRC.

The crimes for which Marcos was convicted by final judgement are also crimes involving moral turpitude that disqualifies Marcos from being a candidate for any office under Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code. The Petition emphasizes that the crime is one involving moral turpitude since, among others, Marcos and his family refused and continues to refuse to pay to the Filipino people roughly PhP203.8 BILLION in estate taxes, inclusive of interests, surcharge, and other penalties.

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