Marcos asks SC to dismiss poll protest seeking to void win

President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. asked the Supreme Court (SC) to protect the free choice of the sovereign Filipino people and dismiss the petition seeking to void his election win.

Marcos argued that the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), which is composed of all 15 SC members, has the sole jurisdiction to rule on his eligibility, not the High Court in its original jurisdiction.

The petition, filed by a group led by Fr. Christian Buenafe, seeks to overturn a Commission on Elections (Comelec) ruling that allowed Marcos to run, citing alleged grave abuse of authority.

The group accuses Marcos of being perpetually disqualified from holding public office due to a previous conviction for tax evasion.

Marcos garnered 31,629,783 votes, representing 58.77 percent of the votes cast, while his closest rival, Vice President Leni Robredo, received 15,033,773 votes.

Congress had already proclaimed Marcos as the President-elect, and he is set to assume office on June 30.