To expedite the resolution of pending cases against presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr., the Commission on Elections Second Division “rejected” all the motions for intervention on a petition seeking the cancellation of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of the former lawmaker.
Among the interventions affected by the order from the Second Division are those from the group of Rommel D. Bautista (Bautista Motion), the group of Reynaldo S. Tamayo, Jr. (Tamayo Motion), and the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP Motion), the political party which nominated Marcos.
In the case of Bautista, the Comelec Second Division cited its “discretion” when it denied the said motion since it will “unduly delay” the resolution of the pending case filed by the group of Buenafe against Marcos.
Buenafe’s group is petitioning to have Marcos’ COC canceled for making false claims in his COC, even though he was convicted of tax-related violations.
Likewise, the Comelec Second Division noted that “allowing” the intervention of Bautista will “encourage other possible intervention to file their own motions for interventions.”
Last, it described the Bautista Motion as a crafty attempt to circumvent the reglementary period of filing a petition 25 days from the filing of the COC.
In the case of Tamayo, the Comelec Second Division called out its petition for failing to furnish a copy of its case to the Marcos camp.
It also noted that both the Tamayo and the PFP motions, if approved, will give undue advantage to respondent Marcos by allowing him to get additional defenses in his case, which was not included in his original answer to the petition seeking the cancellation of his COC.
Both cases were dilatory in nature, but also failed to justify the reason for their interventions.
The Comelec Second Division concluded its order on the three motions that it will no longer accept additional intervention on the Buenafe case.
The members of the Comelec Second Division are commissioners Antonio T. Kho, Jr. and Socorro B. Inting.
Image courtesy of JOEY RAZON PNA
