Another disqualification case against 2022 presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has been elevated to the division level of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The petition filed by a group of Martial Law survivors from La Union, represented by former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod, was raffled to the poll body’s 2nd Division, spokesman James Jimenez confirmed on Monday, December 20.

“After that, [the Comelec] will set a preliminary conference,” Jimenez told reporters.

It is the seventh anti-Marcos petition that was sent to the division level, and the fourth for the 2nd Division, composed of commissioners Socorro Inting and Antonio Kho Jr. Rey Bulay, the latest addition to the poll body, has yet to formally assume office.

Inting, Kho, and Bulay are all Duterte appointees.

Inting is a former Court of Appeals justice hailing from President Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown of Davao, while Kho, the President’s fraternity brother, is a former justice undersecretary. Bulay, a San Beda graduate, is Manila’s former chief city prosecutor.

The 1st Division, meanwhile, is handling three petitions. It is composed of Commissioner Rowena Guanzon, the only Aquino administration appointee in the seven-member en banc, and commissioners Marlon Casquejo and Aimee Ferolino, who are both career officials from Davao.

The full list can be seen below:

Most of the petitions filed against the dictator’s son have cited his tax conviction in the 1990s as basis for his disqualification under Philippine laws.

But Monsod’s group offered a new argument: Marcos has lost his right of suffrage as a result of his tax conviction, and is therefore unable to meet the constitutional requirement that a president must be a registered voter.

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

The Marcos camp has described these petitions as nuisance and mere propaganda orchestrated by his opponents. – Rappler.com