An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday, Jan. 19, assured that the decision on the disqualification cases of presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is not being delayed.
"Hindi naman po tama ‘yung sinasabi na dine-delay namin para daw mapaburan ang isang partido (It would be wrong for some to say that we are delaying the resolution to favor one party)," Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in a webcast posted at the poll body's Facebook page.
The poll official earlier announced that the decision will be out on or before Jan. 17.
However, the staff or lawyer-in-charge of the drafting had been afflicted with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Guanzon is part of the Comelec First Division handling the three petitions seeking to disqualify Marcos Jr. in the May 2022 polls.
The poll official assured that they will release the resolution in time so that "all parties can still have recourse under the law."
Guanzon also explained that the grounds for disqualification are different from cancellation of the certificate of candidacy.
"Kasi pag hindi naiintindihan nagagalit mga tao, akala nila hocus pokus na nangyayari dito (When people don't understand the process, they get angry and would assume that there is 'hocus pocus' happening here)," she said.
The petitions were filed by Bonifacio Ilagan, Akbayan and Abubakar Mangelen.