The Commission on Elections (Comelec) corrected its earlier pronouncement that its division already junked the petition filed by nuisance presidential aspirant Tiburcio Marcos against the candidacy of ousted dictator’s son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. for the 2022 polls.

The poll body’s updated matrix of cases against Marcos Jr. on Tuesday, January 25, showed that the petition has only been “submitted to the division,” contrary to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez’ statement on January 4 that the plea had been denied.

“Clearly, an error was made saying that it was already disposed of because it’s with the division right now,” Jimenez said on Tuesday, without elaborating.

The November 3 petition by Tiburcio is probably the most offbeat of all the legal challenges against Marcos Jr.’s presidential bid.

While other petitions cited Marcos Jr.’s tax conviction as basis for his exclusion from the race, central to Tiburcio’s petition is the conspiracy theory that the current Bongbong Marcos is an impostor, and the real one is dead.

“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,” Tiburcio argued in the petition.

Tiburcio alleged that Marcos Jr. made a deliberate attempt to mislead the poll body, and then urged the Comelec to nullify his certificate of candidacy.

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For the record, Marcos Jr. addressed and debunked the urban myth in a vlog in May.

Tiburcio, who claims to be the “only legitimate son” of the late former president Ferdinand Marcos, submitted his candidacy papers for president in October, but Marcos Jr. also filed a petition asking the Comelec to declare him (Tiburcio) a nuisance candidate.

The poll body later nullified Tiburcio’s candidacy on the basis of his being declared such and excluded him from the final list of candidates. – Rappler.com