Another sign from God?

‘Is Bong Go waiting for Marcos’ disqualification?’

QUESTIONS HAVE been raised by supporters of Senator Bong Go - who is aspiring to replace President Rodrigo Duterte in next year’s polls - whether he is waiting for the disqualification by the Commission on Elections of presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos over his 1997 tax convictions.

Go, who recently backed out from the presidential election, has not submitted his formal withdrawal with the poll body, raising suspicion that he is waiting whether Marcos would be disqualified or not.

Before his decision to back out from the presidential election, Go said he was waiting for God’s sign whether to continue or not and eventually withdrew after receiving Divine signs. 

He said his family does not want him to run for the presidency. “Ayaw rin talaga ng aking pamilya kaya naisip ko na siguro ay hindi ko pa panahon sa ngayon. Diyos lang ang nakakaalam kung kailan ang tamang panahon. Ayaw ko ring maipit si Pangulong Duterte higit pa sa tatay ang pagmamahal ko sa kanya–matanda na po siya at marami na rin siyang naibigay para sa bayan, ayaw ko na pong dagdagan pa ang kanyang problema. Nananatili akong tapat sa kanya at nangako akong sasamahan ko po siya habambuhay,” he said. 

“Talagang nagre-resist ang aking katawan, puso, at isipan. Tao lang po ako na nasasaktan at napapagod din at sa ngayon, yun ang mga rason ko. That is why I am withdrawing from the race. I am willing to make the supreme sacrifice for the good of our country and for the sake of unity among our supporters,” he added. 

Elections spokesman James Jimenez said Go has until May 9 next year to officially withdraw his candidacy. “Until election day he can withdraw,” he said, adding Go’s name will be placed in the ballot if he would not file his “statement of withdrawal" before the printing of the ballots next month.

“Unless he (officially) withdraws, he will continue to be considered a candidate. He has yet to file. He will become an official (candidate) when the campaign period starts in case he did not file his withdrawal,” Jimenez said. “If his name is included in the ballot and he is not able to withdraw, he will not be disqualified, but if he withdraws on Election Day and is able to pull out from the race, then the votes received by Go on the ballot would be considered stray.”

Go’s political party, the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan (PDDS), said it respects Go’s decision, and continues to support him. “Yan po ang naging desisyon niya and we have to respect it. Mag-uusap pa kami sa partido para tahakin ang susunod naming hakbang kasama ang Pangulo at si Senator Bong Go,” said PDDS’ Greco Belgica in a text message to The Manila Times.

How it began

Rappler reported that the Court of Appeals affirmed Marcos’ conviction for failure to file income tax returns when he was vice governor and governor of Ilocos Norte province.

It all started 30 years ago in July 1991, or five years after Dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted from power, when the Cory Aquino government assessed that Marcos’ son had tax deficiencies of about P8,504. He supposedly did not pay his taxes from 1982 to 1985 while he was vice governor and then governor of Ilocos Norte.

Rappler said the tax conviction has come to hound Marcos in his campaign for the presidency, and is now the basis of petitions to cancel his certificate of candidacy. Marcos was charged in absentia, but he returned to the Philippines in October of the same year. He was arraigned in December 1991, and he defended himself in trial by passing the buck to his staff.

“He always thought that his staff took care of the filing of his income tax returns. He does not recall if he filed his income returns from 1982-1985, and he has no proof that his staff filed his returns,” records from the Court of Appeals obtained by Rappler said.

In July 1995, the Quezon City Regional Trial Court found Marcos guilty of tax evasion beyond reasonable doubt and imposed the following sentences: Imprisonment of 6 months and P2,000 each for 3 counts of failure to file ITR (1982, 1983 and 1984); Imprisonment of 6 months and P2,000 each for 3 counts of failure to pay income taxes (1982, 1983 and 1984); Imprisonment of 3 years and pay fine of P30,000 for failure to pay income tax for 1985.

Acting on Marcos’ appeal, the CA – through justices Gloria Paras, Lourdes Jaguros and Oswaldo Agcaoili – acquitted Marcos of failure to pay income taxes. They said Marcos was not given due notice when the tax assessments were made.

The CA also removed the prison sentence previously imposed by the trial court on him. But it sustained Marcos’ conviction for failing to file his ITR from 1982 to 1985, and for this, Marcos was fined P36,000.

Rappler said the CA ruling did not explain why the justices opted to drop the prison sentence against Marcos, even though the 1977 Tax Code, on which the charges were based, states that a person convicted of failure to file a tax return be punished with both a fine and imprisonment. The code says that the offender must “be fined not less than ten thousand pesos (P10,000) and imprisonment of not less than one (1) year but not more than ten (10) years.”

Marcos’ spokesperson and lawyer Vic Rodriguez acknowledged the conviction and said “yes, it has been litigated, so I guess there’s nothing more to discuss.”

Supreme Court records obtained by Rappler show that Marcos initially wanted to appeal his CA conviction and had in fact asked the High Court for an extension to file his petition for certiorari. But he eventually withdrew his plea to extend the deadline. This was in 2001, when he was again governor of Ilocos Norte.

The Supreme Court granted Marcos’ motion to withdraw, and that resolution became final and executory on August 31, 2001.

Rappler also cited Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code which states that a person shall be disqualified from running for public office if he had been sentenced by final judgment “for subversion, insurrection, rebellion or for any offense for which he has been sentenced to a penalty of more than eighteen months or for a crime involving moral turpitude.”

Based on this provision, the prison sentence as grounds for disqualification may not apply to Marcos because the appellate court had removed his sentence in its 1997 verdict against him.

Not so fast

But a separate report by The Manila Times citing documents issued by the Supreme Court and the Bureau of Internal Revenue said Marcos has settled his tax dues in compliance with a 1995 court ruling. The documents, copies of which were obtained by The Manila Times, bolster the argument that there is no legal impediment to the presidential candidacy of Marcos.

It said an official receipt issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines with receipt number 10622824, dated Dec. 27, 2001, showed that Marcos paid the sum in full. And copies of BIR payment forms numbered 0605 and 1904 confirmed that payment was made.

In a separate document, then Supreme Court Deputy Clerk of Court and Chief of the Judicial Records Office Teresita Dimaisip sent a copy of the entry of judgment to the camp of Marcos, Court of Appeals, and the Solicitor General in connection with the former senator's case in December 2001. “This is to certify that on Aug. 8, 2001, a resolution rendered in the above-entitled case was filed in this office...” the entry of judgment read.

She also certified that the resolution had become final and executory on Aug. 31, 2001 and recorded in the Book of Entries of Judgments. (Mindanao Examiner)