Comelec has asked Marcos to settle the case this month

Former Senator of the Election Commission (Comelek) and Presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bambang” R. Disqualification cases against Marcos Jr. should be resolved, as promised, to remain credible, political analysts said over the weekend.

“The new chairman needs to prove that Kamlek will maximize his quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative independence by acting swiftly and fairly in these controversial cases,” Danilo A. Arao, chief convener of election watchdog Contra Day, said in a Facebook messenger chat. . “They have to meet their self-imposed deadlines because failing to do so is absolutely unacceptable.”

The late dictator Ferdinand E. The election commission has yet to resolve a number of issues related to Marcos’ son’s disqualification from the presidency.

Election Commissioner George Erwin M. Garcia had previously said that Kamlek would resolve pending cases by the third week of April.

Newly appointed Kamlek Chairman Saidamen B. Pangarungan said last month that they would track the cases quickly

On Friday, a group of victims of martial law filed a second “extremely urgent” proposal for a resolution of cases pending in the second division of Comelec. Delaying the case could complicate this year’s presidential election, they said.

“Only Comelec can give a definite answer if they can resolve these cases in a timely manner,” said Dennis C. Coronation, head of the University of Santo Thomas’s Department of Political Science, said in a Viber message.

“At the moment, I am not optimistic that the electoral body is going to issue a verdict that will be in favor of the applicants,” he added.

The First Division had earlier dismissed three joint lawsuits against Mr. Marcos for barring him from running for president because it ruled that his failure to file his tax return in the 1980s did not involve malpractice. The case is pending in the Kamlek Full Court.

The second division rejected a similar petition in January, ruling that Mr Marcos had not misled the public when he testified in his candidacy that he was eligible to run for president. The case is also on appeal to N Bank.

A lawsuit was filed against Election Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino. He denied the allegations and said it was a minor matter that would not fully affect the commission’s credibility.

Retired Election Commissioner Maria Rowena V. Guanjan accused him of delaying the case so that his vote would not be counted for disqualification. He added that a senator from Davao was interfering in the case.

The Akbayan party-list group, which had filed a disqualification petition, had earlier asked Kamlek to quickly-track his decision.

Comelec en banc’s decision can be appealed to the Supreme Court.

Mr Arao said Kamlek would have to make enough decisions to work on the pending cases against Mr Marcos, including the appeal.

“The chances are that the next president’s term will be decided by the Supreme Court and if he is disqualified, the vice president will have to take over,” he said. “That looming scene is possible because of the delay in the Comelek First Division.” – John Victor d. Ordonez