MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed another petition to block the presidential bid of the late dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr filed by his namesake and former rival, Tiburcio Marcos.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez shared this during a press briefing on Tuesday, January 4, when he was asked about the status of petitions to cancel Bongbong’s candidacy.

“‘Yung kay Tiburcio Marcos has already been denied,” he said, adding that Comelec will make a “more comprehensive” list on the status of the petitions.

In his November 3 petition, Tiburcio Marcos said that “Impostor Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. does not exist as a legal person because the legal owner of his full name including his nickname ‘Bongbong’ and initials ‘BBM’ has been deceased since 1975.”

“Impostor Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ R. Marcos Jr. committed a deliberate attempt in his certificate of candidacy for president… to mislead, misinform, or conceal a fact, which would otherwise render him ineligible, because he is impersonating the deceased person,” the petition read.

But even before the Comelec decision, there was no expectation that the case would prosper.

Stuff made for fact checks: Petition accuses Bongbong Marcos of faking… himself

Last December 16, the Comelec junked the very first case filed against the presidential bid of Bongbong, saying that the petitioner failed to prove that the late dictator’s son is a nuisance candidate.

As of today, there are five more pending cases against Bongbong – one petition to cancel his candidacy and four disqualification cases.

LIST: Petitions seeking to block Bongbong Marcos’ 2022 presidential bid

Jimenez also said that Comelec will no longer admit select members of the media to its session hall on January 7, Friday, for the preliminary conference on the disqualification cases filed against Marcos due to the rising COVID-19 cases. Instead, the media can tune in to the livestream of the event. – Rappler.com