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MANILA, Philippines — On Tuesday, the Akbayan party-list petitioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to review its decision to dismiss its appeal to disqualify presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. from the May 9 election.

In a 16-page motion for reconsideration (MR), Akbayan chairperson emeritus Etta Rosales, First Nominee Percival Cendana, and Second Nominee Dr. RJ Naguit urged the Comelec en banc to overturn the First Division’s decision and consider the points raised by retired Commissioner Rowena Guanzon in her separate opinion during the case’s deliberation.

“Wherefore, the Petitioners respectfully beg that the Former First Division of this Honorable Commission’s Resolution of 10 February 2022 is set aside and that the current Petition for Disqualification is granted,” the motion stated.

Cendana stated that they will follow the lawsuit to its conclusion.

“The war isn’t over yet. Bongbong isn’t going to be able to ignore this. His conviction for tax evasion and his ongoing attempts to deceive the public are indelible marks. These will be with him for the duration of the campaign. In a statement, he stated, “We will pursue this to the finish and secure a just resolution to the matter.”

The petitioners further alleged that the First Division’s decision was invalid and that it had broken its own norms by issuing it with only two active commissioners.

“According to the Comelec’s guidelines, a Division must consist of three commissioners. As a result, the decision on the petitions could be null and void because it was issued by a Division that was not properly constituted, with only two commissioners remaining. It would have been a lawful resolution if they released it when the Division was still validly constituted by three Commissioners,” he noted.

The poll body’s First Division resolution of February 10 is null and void, according to Cendana, because it was not made by “a validly-constituted Division.”

“Since the so-called ‘First Division’ or the so-called ‘Former First Division’ had only two Commissioners, there was clearly no validly-constituted Division of the Comelec, to begin with.” As a result, the so-called “Resolution” of February 10, 2022, should not be considered legitimately issued by the Comelec. “It’s nothing more than a document signed by two Commissioners, but it’s absolutely not a Comelec Resolution or Decision,” the petitioners noted.

Commissioner Aimee Ferolino, the ponente of the February 10 ruling, was also asked to recuse herself from the en banc’s deliberations since her role in the serious allegations leveled by former Commissioner Rowena Guanzon tainted her credibility and integrity.

In the meantime, petitioners represented by Bonifacio Ilagan have petitioned the Comelec en banc to overturn the First Division’s decision.

“Wherefore, the Petitioners respectfully pray reconsideration and for the following reliefs: 1. Reversing the Resolution dated 10 February 2022; 2. Disqualify respondent Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. as a candidate for President of the Republic of the Philippines in the 09 May 2022 National and Local Elections,” the petitioners wrote in a 16-page motion for reconsideration filed on Tuesday.

The petitioners further contended that the division erred in ruling that failing to file income tax returns for four years in a row is not intrinsically bad and does not include moral turpitude.

“The Honorable First Division observed in support of its Resolution that failure to submit tax returns is not intrinsically unlawful in the absence of a statute prohibiting it and that it is only through the enactment of the tax code that it became illegal.” It was also decided that because the tax code simply imposed a fine, it was not a very serious infraction. “With all due respect to the Honorable Commission, it is claimed that repeated, deliberate, willful, and purposeful violations of the tax code constitute a felony including moral turpitude,” they wrote.

They went on to say that, regardless of the court’s decision, a violation of Presidential Decree 1994, signed in 1985, carries a lifetime ban on standing for public office.

“This fact is compounded by the respondent convicted candidate Marcos, Jr.’s admission that he has not fulfilled the Court’s payment of penalties when he stated that he has no evidence of paying the fines before the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City Branch 105,” they added.

Another petitioner, Abubakar Mangelen, filed his MR on Monday in response to the division’s consolidation of three disqualification petitions.

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