A Philippine elections official, who voted to disqualify the son and namesake of the former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos in upcoming presidential elections, has alleged that the Philippines Commission on Elections is planning to nullify her vote after she retired yesterday.
Commissioner Rowena Guanzon last week said that she voted to disqualify Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr from the race due to a 1997 tax conviction she said was an offense that involved “moral turpitude,” one of the grounds under Philippine law barring a candidate from seeking public office.
Guanzon has since said that a fellow commissioner, who is drafting the main ruling on the petitions against Marcos Jr has delayed its release until after her retirement so her vote would no longer count.
Photo: AP
“They succeeded in stopping my vote,” Guanzon told foreign correspondents in an online news conference on Tuesday.
The issue would likely be taken to the Philippine Supreme Court, she added.
Commissioner Aimee Ferolino denied the allegations, and said Guanzon’s criticisms were undermining the commission’s credibility.
The 64-year-old Marcos Jr, who has served as provincial governor, congressman and senator, has topped opinion polls ahead of the May 9 vote, alarming human rights and democracy advocates, who have led pockets of street protests following Guanzon’s claims.
The elder Marcos was ousted in an army-backed “people power” uprising that became a harbinger of change in authoritarian regimes worldwide. He died in exile in Hawaii three years later without admitting any wrongdoing, including accusations that he, his family and cronies amassed an estimated US$5 billion to US$10 billion while he was in power.
The late president’s son “has a weak moral fiber, that’s why I have to disqualify him,” said Guanzon, who would retire after seven years on the commission.
Guanzon, who has also served in the Philippine Commission on Audit, a vanguard against government corruption, and as a city mayor in central Philippines, once told journalists that she could defend herself in retirement.
“I’ll just carry my own gun,” she said.
Marcos Jr has not publicly responded to Guanzon’s accusations, but his political party, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, asked the elections commission to investigate her for improperly disclosing her position on the disqualification bid against him.
It sought her disbarment and forfeiture of her retirement benefits and lifetime pension.
Two weeks ago, another group of election commissioners rejected a separate bid to oust Marcos Jr from the race. The petitioners in that case said he falsely stated in his candidacy papers that he had not been convicted of any crime.
The other major contenders in the race to succeed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte include Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo, an opposition leader who narrowly defeated Marcos Jr in the 2016 vice presidential race, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, Philippine Senator Panfilo Lacson and former boxing champion and Philippine Senator Manny Pacquiao.
A Hawaii court found the elder Marcos liable for human rights violations and awarded US$2 billion from his estate to compensate more than 9,000 Filipinos who filed a lawsuit against him for torture, incarceration, extrajudicial killings and disappearances.
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