Comelec junks appeal to declare Marcos as a nuisance candidate 

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) has rejected an appeal seeking to reverse a division ruling that said ex-senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr. is a legitimate candidate for this year’s elections.  

In a seven-page resolution dated May 11 and sent to reporters on Thursday, the Comelec full court said the petitioner’s failure to raise new arguments to prove that Mr. Marcos is a “nuisance” bet and cancel his certificate of candidacy.  

The petitioner claimed that Mr. Marcos’s main purpose to run for president is “to have his family’s political comeback in Malacañang,” which the Comelec dismissed as sweeping statements.  

The Comelec Second Division earlier dismissed the lawsuit for failing to prove its claim against Mr. Marcos, who has a commanding lead in the partial and unofficial results of this year’s presidential race.  

“A careful review of the Motion for Reconsideration reveals that it contains merely a rehash of petitioner’s averments and arguments,” according to a copy of the en banc resolution. 

Under Comelec law, a candidate may be considered a nuisance bet if they intend to cause confusion among voters by the similarity of names, have no genuine intention to run for the position, and plan to put the election process in mockery or disrepute.  

The Comelec full court on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of several motions seeking to overturn the dismissal of disqualification cases against Mr. Marcos, who is headed for a landslide victory.  

The lawsuits that sought to bar the former senator from this year’s elections were anchored on his conviction in the 1990s for failing to file his income tax returns on four consecutive occasions.  

Election Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia inhibited himself from deliberating on cases involving Mr. Marcos, his former client.  

Political experts have said that petitioners would likely challenge the case before the Supreme Court.  

“I expect the decision to be brought to the Supreme Court,” Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco, a senior research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University Policy Center, said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “The case can be a hovering threat to the presidency of Marcos.” — John Victor D. Ordoñez