SC not in a hurry to stop BBM proclamation
THE Supreme Court is not inclined to immediately grant three petitions calling for the issuance of a temporary restraining order on the constitutionally-mandated oath-taking of President-elect, Ferdinand ‘Bongbong/BBM’ Marcos Jr., at noon of June 30, 2022.
In a ‘press briefer’ last May 19, 2022, the high court, sitting en banc, ordered the petitioners, the group of Catholic priest, Fr. Christian Buenafe, Marcos, Congress, the Senate and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), to instead submit their respective “comments” within a period of 15 days, before deciding on the issue.
Both the Senate and Congress were asked to also file their comments after two other petitions, this time calling on both chambers to stop the canvassing of votes and instigated by personalities from the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), were also filed at the SC.
The number of days given by the SC and covering from May 19, 2022, would end on June 3, 2022, less than a week before June 30, the designated date for the start of the presidential term of office as provided for under Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Philippine Constitution.
The Comelec had twice thrown out the petition for the cancellation of Marcos’ ‘certificate of candidacy’ (COC), first on January 17, 2022 and again, during its en banc session on May 10, 2022, in both instances, for “lack of merit.”
Mainly, the petitioners claim that Marcos cannot run for president for his alleged failure to file his income tax returns between 1982 and 1985. The allegation was subsequently proven as false, with Marcos actually paying his tax liabilities on January 4, 2001 (Pinoy Exposé, December 6, 2021).
However, the petitioners persisted and elevated the case before the Supreme Court, with an additional prayer that his official proclamation be stopped.
Former solicitor general, Estelito Mendoza, one of the counsels for the President-elect, cautioned that the petition notwithstanding, the Supreme Court is also barred from stopping Marcos from being sworn as the country’s 17th President at noon of June 30.
“A comment is required to be filed on the petition and therefore in the comment, you may expect that we will be asking for the dismissal of the petition,” Mendoza said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
“You must remember, this issue of disqualification was ruled upon by the Comelec division and, later on, it was ruled upon by the Comelec en banc, so you already have two rulings affirming the qualification of BBM (Marcos),” he added in the interview.
Elaborating on the texts of Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution, Mendoza stressed that “all of the above provisions, in language and intent, are mandatory and the Supreme Court is without jurisdiction to prevent their implementation.”
