MANILA, Philippines — On Monday, December 6, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez confirmed that two more disqualification cases against Bongbong Marcos have been filed. These were elevated to the Comelec’s 1st Division.
These petitions were filed on December 2 by Akbayan and the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Commissioner Abubakar Mangelen.
Mangelen asserted that he was the elected chairman of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), the group carrying Marcos’ presidential bid. He asked for one of Marcos’ candidacy files to be void as it was filed by PFP without his consent. On the other hand, Akbayan grounded its petition on Marcos’ 1995 tax conviction in 1995 which was made final by the Supreme Court in 2001.
These additional petitions for disqualifications granted the 1st and 2nd Division with three anti-Marcos cases each. Previous petitions include one filed by Bonifacio Ilagan alongside Martial Law survivors.
Commissioners in the 1st and 2nd Division are career officials from Davao or appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte.