Former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. will not wait for the results of his election protest and intends to run in the 2022 elections.
“He will be seeking for a national elective post this coming 2022 elections,” said Marcos spokesman Atty. Victor Rodriguez on Thursday (Oct. 1).
Marcos has a pending election protest before the Supreme Court (SC) sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) questioning his loss against Vice President Leni Robredo in the 2016 elections.
“The election protest will continue even when he files his certificate of candidacy and will not be dismissed following the doctrine laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago that only upon oath and assumption of the protestant of his/her new elective office that dismissal of the pending electoral protest will set in and render the case moot and academic or by noon of 30 June 2022 when the term of the contested position shall end as provided for by the Constitution,” Rodriguez said.
Recently, Rodriguez only saw the latest action of the PET as delaying the resolution of the Marcos election protest.
The PET last Tuesday (Sept. 29) asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) for comments concerning the third cause of action in the Marcos protest concerning the annulment of elections in Lanao Del Sur, Basilan and Maguindanao.
“Considering the very thin time left in the term of the contested position, our protest is under real threat of becoming moot and academic by events leading to 2022 such as the filing of candidacy, campaign and national election that would reduce the clamor and right of the people to know who really won the vice presidency illusory,” Rodriguez previously said.
