NextGen Day

A Commission on Elections (Comelec) officer has defended the First Division’s decision to refuse the three petitions seeking to ban presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. from competing in the May 9 elections.

Some people who are reacting to the ruling are putting it out of context, according to Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, who emphasizes that the First Division has not declared that it is acceptable to not file an income tax return (ITR).

“So has been said, and the judgment does state that, but it does so in the context of attempting to clarify the difference between a crime of mala inse and a crime of mala prohibitum. This is a crucial principle of criminal law “On Friday, he remarked in an online conference.

He defined a crime mala inse as “a crime that is naturally bad in and of itself” when presenting these ideas.

“For example, you don’t need a law to inform you that murder is bad, but there are some offenses that are mala prohibitum, meaning they are only regarded unlawful under the law because a particular law exists,” he explained.

In explaining the verdict, Jimenez used the example of jaywalking.

“Jaywalking is not intrinsically evil, but it becomes wrong if there is an ordinance prohibiting it.” He went on to say, “That is the objective of that sentence.”

He claims that the election authority has not stated that failure to file an ITR is not a violation, but rather that it is.

“If you look at what’s going on on social media right now, they’re saying it’s fine not to submit an ITR because the Comelec stated so.” That isn’t correct because Comelec notes out in the judgment that a separate law was passed to punish failing to file an ITR. So it’s incorrect to claim that the Comelec says there’s no penalty for failing to file an ITR because the Comelec says there is. “However, there was a distinction to be drawn between mala inse and mala prohibitum,” Jimenez stated.

“It’s critical to underline that failure to file an ITR does not automatically imply tax avoidance. These are two distinct offenses that are treated differently by the law. Even when the facts are right in front of their faces, they will say whatever they want. That’s absolutely OK. The idea is that it must be made clear that the Comelec is not implying that failure to file an ITR is not a crime,” he added.

The poll body’s First Division dismissed the consolidated disqualification complaints against Marcos filed by Bonifacio Ilagan et al., Akbayan et al., and Abubakar Mangelen for lack of merit in a judgment signed by Commissioner Aimee Ferolino and announced on Thursday.

Commissioner Marlon Casquejo agreed with the decision.

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