BINATIKOS ng nangungunang abogado ng Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP) ang pinaniniwalaang conscious act ni dating Justice Antonio Carpio kaugnay sa katotohanan sa isyu ng buwis na ginawang basehan ng paghahain ng mga petisyon para madiskwalipika si dating Sen. Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. o kanselahin ang kanyang Certificate of Candidacy mula sa listahan ng mga presidentiable sa May 9 elections.
Ayon sa beteranong abogado na si Atty. George S. Briones, general counsel ng PFP: “Carpio’s mind-bending legal theory is intentional political propaganda meant to support his distant second presidential candidate, for if BBM were not leading in the surveys these DQ cases would not have been filed against him in the Comelec.”
Ipinaliwanag ni Briones na noong isinulat ni Justice Carpio ang kanyang kolum tungkol sa diskwalipikasyon ng respondent noong Oktubre 28, 2021, ang kanyang kandidato sa pagkapangulo na si vice president Leni Robredo na inendorso ng kanyang 1Sambayan ay malayo ang agwat na sumusunod sa respondent na may 47 porsiyento sa pinili o nationwide preference samantalang si Robredo ay may 18 porsiyento, o 29 porsiyentong puntos na kalamangan sa kabila ng pagsisikap ng bise presidente at ng kanyang mga tagasunod.
Kaya naman, kung pagbibigyan ng Comelec ang mga petisyon na ito, sinabi ni Briones, “It will establish a terrible precedent where all candidates badly trailing in the polls as the number two, will now file similar petitions to disqualify the number one in the polls, so even if they actually become the loser in the elections, they will be proclaimed the winner by litigation according to the case of Jalosjos penned by Justice Carpio himself”.
Tinutukoy ng nangungunang abogado ng PFP ang inilarawan niyang nakagagalit na pahayag kamakailan ni Carpio na si Marcos, Jr. ay disqualified na tumakbo sa pagkapangulo dahil siya ay isang certified convict dahil sa hindi pagbabayad ng kanyang income tax discrepancies at multa gaya ng iniutos ng Court of Appeals sa kabila ng pagharap ng dating senador ng mga pruweba ng pagbabayad.
Si Briones, na nagtapos din sa University of the Philippines (U.P.) College of Law tulad ni Carpio, ay tinalakay ang mahahalagang punto ng mga kaso ng DQ at sa petisyon na kanselahin ang CoC ni Marcos:
- The petition to cancel the CoC is not a petition to enforce payment of a fine or deficiency taxes imposed as a penalty in a case that became final and executory in 1997. That is not the issue in this petition.
- The petitions for disqualifications are likewise not petitions to enforce a judgement rendered in 1997.
- Such issue could not even be raised now as prescription of penalties has set in.
- The root issues here are whether or not BBM was ever imposed the penalty of perpetual disqualification in any court decision.
- In both kinds of petitions, the petitioners have not shown that the penalty of perpetual disqualification was ever imposed on BBM. Hence, with or without payment of the fine or service of penalty, there is no perpetual disqualification in the first place to be removed because no such penalty was ever imposed.
- BBM is not a convicted criminal as what Carpio, and his cohorts are saying. He was acquitted of the charges of tax evasion and so the penalties of imprisonment were removed by the Appellate Court.
- BBM was only imposed a ‘fine’ (Section 252 of NIRC), and not ‘perpetual disqualification’ (Section 254 of NIRC). The CA reversed the conviction of the QC-RTC and acquitted BBM of tax evasion.
Pinaalalahanan ni Briones si Carpio na binayaran ni Marcos, Jr. ang mga multa at deficiency taxes na ipinataw sa kanya ng CA sa desisyon nito noong ika-31 ng Oktubre 1997 na partikular na nakasaad sa desisyon ng CA na dapat bayaran ng respondent ang buong halaga ng kanyang mga buwis na dapat bayaran sa BIR. “Noong tinawag ni Justice Carpio na certified convict si BBM, para kaming lahat na nagbayad ng multa sa mga traffic violations namin sa MMDA as certified convict din.
“Justice Carpio is just making a mountain, out of a molehill,” ayon pa kay Briones.
Aniya, sa ilalim ng Article 89 ng Revised Penal Code, ang criminal liability ay ‘totally extinguished’ sa pamamagitan ng ‘prescription of penalties’. Sa pag-aakalang sinabi ni Carpio na hindi binayaran ni BBM ang kanyang multa sa korte, ang kabiguan ng court sheriff na ipatupad ang nasabing parusa ng multa laban kay Marcos ay naging sanhi ng parusang ito na itakda sa ilalim ng Article 89 ng RPC na ganap na nagtanggal sa kanyang kriminal na pananagutan, ani Briones.
“Besides, double jeopardy has also set in. Petitioners cannot be allowed to reopen this tax case and re-litigate Marcos, Jr. before the Comelec for his criminal tax liability,” dagdag ni Briones.
Nag-alok din ang PFP’s general counsel sa kanyanh schoolmate ng isa pang legal theory: “If Marcos, Jr. were meted the same exact penalty by the CA today, even if he did not pay his deficiency taxes and fines, he could still run for President because the judgment did not impose upon him the penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold office, and he was not sentenced to a penalty of more than 18 months imprisonment, or convicted with a crime involving moral turpitude.”
“Both Section 252 (perpetual disqualification) and Section 254 (fine) in the Tax Code are separate penalties that maybe imposed by the Appellate Court. Clearly, the Court imposed the penalty of fine under Section 254 only, and expressly deleted the penalty of perpetual disqualification under Section 252 in its Decision dated 31st October 1997. This DECISION is now IMMUTABLE notwithstanding Justice Carpio and his silly legal theory,” paliwanag ni Briones.