Because Abubakar M. Mangelen and his lawyer missed a hearing, the First Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decided to rule that his petition to disqualify presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. has been submitted for resolution.

Mr. Marcos also missed the preliminary conference, as, according to his lawyer, he was under isolation due to a possible coronavirus 2019 (COVDI-19) infection. The initial lack of a medical certificate to prove this drew the ire of Comelec officials.

Mr. Mangelen, who says that he is the real chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, whose stand-bearer is Mr. Marcos, said he had not received a notice about the hearing.

He had filed a petition with the Comelec to disqualify Mr. Marcos on Dec. 2, saying that Marcos’ certification of nomination and acceptance by the party is “unauthorized, null, and void.”

Meanwhile, stipulations for two other petitions against Mr. Marcos, which were filed by the progressive group Akbayan and petitioners led by Bonifacio Ilagan, were finished at the hearing.

Both petitions state that Mr. Marcos is not qualified to run for presidency since he was convicted of tax evasion, a crime that permanently bans a person from holding public office.

Appearing as counsel for the petitioners led by Mr. Ilagan was Jake Ray Fajardi, while Antonio Salvador appeared for Akbayan. Hanna Barcenas appeared as Mr. Marcos’ lawyer.

The petitioners presented a certification from the Quezon City Regional Trial Court that showed that Mr. Marcos had not yet paid his fines. To counter, Marcos’ counsel showed a certificate from the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) that said he had paid the fines a long time ago. Ms. Barcenas said that Marcos had paid the BIR through Landbank, but also confirmed that he had not paid the Supreme Court.

Comelec Commissioner Ma. Rowena V. Guanzon told Marcos’ camp that they should show a receipt.

Another issue raised by the petitioners was that Mr. Marcos had not filed his income tax returns (ITR) for 1982 to 1985. When Ms. Barcenas denied this, the election official asked her when the ITRs were filed. Ms. Barcenas said that she still had to check the dates.

NOT FEELING WELL

The respondent, Mr. Marcos, was unable to attend the hearing of the three disqualification cases filed against him because, according to Ms. Barcenas, he was not feeling well.

Ms. Guanzon requested that Mr. Marcos attend the hearing virtually through Zoom since he did not have a medical certificate to prove he was unwell.

“Why is it hard for (former) Senator Marcos to go on video? He can do that through the phone!” the election official said.

Ms. Barcenas promised that they would be able to present a medical certificate within the day. She added that the Dec. 20 summons stated that either the respondent or his counsels should be at the hearing. However, Ms. Guanzon said that the summons ordered Mr. Marcos to attend in person or virtually.

Later that afternoon, Mr. Marcos’ doctor sent a medical certificate to his counsel saying that the presidential aspirant had fever and a sore throat. He noted that Mr. Marcos had come in contact with two COVID-positive people.

The Comelec directed the Marcos camp to submit their manifestation with his medical certificate and the parties were also required to submit their memoranda within 48 hours.

Marcos’ counsel asked to submit their camp’s memoranda in 15 days but Commissioner Guanzon denied it.

The First Division of the Comelec required all the parties involved to submit their memoranda by Jan. 9 at 12 pm. Only after the memoranda are provided can the poll body consider both disqualification petitions as submitted for resolution.

The preliminary conference for the three disqualification cases against Mr. Marcos was livestreamed on Comelec’s Facebook page. The marking of evidence by the lawyers before the Clerk of the Commission was not shown online. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan

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