A petition to cancel the certificate of candidacy (COC) of presumptive president Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. has reached the highest court in the Philippines.
The petitioners led by their counsel Theodore Te asked the Supreme Court to “cancel and declare void ab initio the Certificate of Candidacy for President” filed by Marcos Jr.
"Consequently, respondent Marcos Jr. must be deemed to have never been a candidate from the very beginning, his candidacy invalidated, and the votes attributed to him considered stray," the petition read.
The petitioners also urged the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to block the counting of votes cast for him and his proclamation should he win.
Likewise, they also ask the SC to annul and set aside the May 10 Resolution of the Comelec en Banc that junked their appeal to cancel Marcos’ COC, and the Jan. 17, 2022 resolution of the Second Division that dismissed their plea.
Days after the May 9 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also junked the petitions seeking to disqualify and declare Marcos Jr. as a nuisance candidate.
"This Petition prays for the invalidation and reversal of the Questioned Comelec Resolutions for having been rendered in grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction," their Petition for Certiorari read.
"Respondent Comelec, by refusing to Cancel or Deny Due Course the [COC] of respondent Marcos, Jr. despite his having deliberately made false material representations on two material items, acted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction," they added.
Based on the partial, unofficial results count as of May 13, Marcos was able to gather more than 31.1 million votes. His rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, is trailing with 14.8 million votes.
