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Final hurdle

May 19, 2022 Lee Ann P. Ducusin 301 views

A Philippine legal luminary said it is very likely that the Supreme Court of the Philippines (SC) will uphold the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling, which junked all the petitions seeking to disqualify incoming President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr.

“That case ay nadismiss na sa Comelec. Usually, ang attitude ng Supreme Court ay i-uphold nila yung findings ng administrative body like Comelec that has competence over the subject matter,” said San Beda Graduate School of Law Dean, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, in an interview with DZRH Thursday morning.

According to partial and unofficial results, Marcos currently leads the 2022 presidential race with more than 31.1 million votes, maintaining a gap of 16.2 million votes from his nearest rival.

Last Tuesday, a group headed by Fr. Christian Buenafe,

filed a petition asking the SC to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to stop Congress, convened as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), from counting Marcos’ votes.

The group also seeks to cancel Marcos’ Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) based on alleged material misrepresentation.

On Wednesday, a second disqualification petition was filed against Marcos by the Campaign Against the Return of the Marcoses and Martial Law (CARMMA).

Apart from asking the SC to stop the NBOC from counting the votes, the group also seeks to overturn the Comelec’s ruling on its previous petitions.

Aquino also noted that the SC historically respects the people’s will when deciding on cases especially involving elected officials with clear mandates.

“While I cannot guess what the Supreme Court will do, in many cases in the past, the attitude of the Supreme Court has always been, kapag nahalal na ang isang tao, they will not touch the question of disqualification kasi ang paninindigan nila nagpasya na ang mga tao at dapat igalang ang pasya ng mga tao,” Aquino added.

Marcos is set to become the first majority elected President since the country adopted the multi-party political system.

With 56% of the 67.4 million voters choosing him over the candidates, Marcos has obtained a clear mandate from the people.

Philippine elections also hit several milestones as Comelec reported that voter turnout in the May 9, 2022 elections hit 83% – the highest achieved since the country shifted to automated polls. By Lee Ann Ducusin

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