20/01/2022
THANK YOU, JAUHN ETIENNE VILLARUEL of ABS-CBN NEWS!
"Hours after the SC's TRO in favor of Marquez was handed down, the Comelec announced the postponement of the ballot printing, but cited "technical factors" encountered by the printing committee.
"It was unclear if the SC order was a factor in the postponement of ballot printing, even as the Comelec claimed that the "final ballot face," which contains the final list of candidates, has been ready a day prior but was never released.
"This is not the first time Marquez challenged a Comelec order declaring him a nuisance candidate.
"In 2019, the SC issued a landmark ruling stating that "Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in declaring Marquez a nuisance candidate on the ground of failure to prove financial capacity to sustain the financial rigors of waging a nationwide campaign."
"While the SC decision, released after the elections, did nothing to allow Marquez to run for Senate then, it has become a guiding principle for the poll body in cautiously branding an aspirant a "nuisance."
"During the filing of certificate of candidacy in October last year, Marquez said he is an animal welfare advocate. He said he would represent the "biggest sector" in society: the animal lovers and pet owners."
READ: bit.ly/MarquezSecuresSCTROAgainstComelec
A GIANT STEP towards an Animal Welfare Advocate in the Senate in 2022 (AWAITS2022) --
a Victory for the Voice of Animals and the Marginalized Sectors in the Senate.
The SUPREME COURT En Banc finally issued the TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER (TRO) to compel the COMELEC to include in the printed ballot the name of Senatorial Aspirant and Animal Welfare Advocate NORMAN CORDERO MARQUEZ, which they unjustly declared as nuisance candidate and removed in the January 11 Tentative Listing.
On September 3, 2019, Marquez v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 244274, in a 15-0 decision of the justices, the Honorable Court reversed and set aside another Resolution of the COMELEC and unanimously declared that:
โWe find that the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion in declaring Marquez a nuisance candidate on the ground of failure to prove financial capacity to sustain the financial rigors of waging a nationwide campaign.
"x x x
โIt bears reiterating that the Court acknowledges the COMELECโs legitimate objective in weeding out candidates who have not evinced a bona fide intention to run for office from the electoral process. Any measure designed to accomplish the said objective should, however, not be arbitrary and oppressive and should not contravene the Republican system ordained in our Constitution. Unfortunately, the COMELECโs preferred standard falls short of what is constitutionally permissible.
โx x x
โSince the COMELEC did not require all candidates for senator to declare the amount of money they had, and were committed, to fund their campaign x x x, one wonders how the COMELEC chose who to target for disqualification. By its public pronouncements, the COMELEC disqualified 70 senatorial candidates. Comparing the COMELEC [Law] Departmentโs motu propio motion to cancel in this case with the one employed in De Alban v. COMELEC, et. al., it seems the [Law] Department employed a cookie-cutter motion, generally alleging lack of financial capability in a transparent attempt to shift the burden of proof upon the candidate, without setting forth by rule the acceptable minimum financial capability. This process puts an unfair and impermissible burden upon the candidate.โ
โx x x
โFreedom of voter to exercise the elective franchise at a general election implies the right to freely choose from all qualified candidates for public office. The imposition of unwarranted restrictions and hindrances precluding qualified candidates from running is, therefore, violative of the constitutional guaranty of freedom in the exercise of elective franchise. It seriously interferes with the right of the electorate to choose freely from among those eligible to office whomever they may desire."
A NON-LAWYER graduate of ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY with a degree of BS MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING, Petitioner NORMAN MARQUEZ, pro se, filed unto the Honorable Court a Petition for Review on Certiorari with Writ of Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), in connection with the 9 May 2022 National and Local Elections (NLE), with the Docket Receiving Section of the Judicial Records (JRO) on 10 January 2022, Monday, at around 10:16 a.m.
PETITIONER IS QUITE PERTURBED with the prospect of not being able to secure a TRO in time for the 17 January 2022 announcement by the COMELEC of the final list of candidates for senator and the start of ballot printing immediately thereafter, and therefore, his name might not be included on the printed ballot on the ground of mootness.
CURIOUSLY, in the 13 May 2019 NLE, the COMELEC finalized the list of senatorial candidates as late as January 31, 2019, and started printing ballots only on February 9, 2019. Hence, Petitioner could not help but wonder and suspect at the unwarranted sense of urgency to bar the Petitioner, as well as the other fellow senatorial aspirants and party list groups who are in the same predicament as his, from availing of judicial relief from this Honorable Court.
MARQUEZ FELT AGGRIEVED when the COMELEC En Banc released its promulgated Decision only on 3 January 2022 with barely 12 days left before the release of the final list of candidates for the 2022 NLE in order for the Petitioner to prepare Petition for Review on Certiorari and secure TRO.
PETITIONER IS UTTERLY DISMAYED that while he has been able to seasonably file his Verified Answer (on 21 October 2021, 3 days after receipt of Registered Mail on 18 October) and Motion for Reconsideration (on 17 December 2021, 2 days after receipt of COMELEC First Division Resolution via e-mail on 15 December), the COMELEC took a long time to promulgate First Division Resolution (on 13 December 2021, 53 days after filing of Verified Answer of Petitioner on 21 October) and En Banc Resolution (on 3 January 2022, 17 days after filing of Motion of Reconsideration of Petitioner on 17 December 2021).
UNFORTUNATELY, the predicament of the Petitioner was further exacerbated by the sudden surge of COVID-19 cases prompting this Honorable Court to issue Memorandum Order No. 2-2022, re: 3-day work suspension from January 3 to 5, which was further extended to January 8 per Memorandum Order No. 3-2022.
PETITIONER, IN THE PAST FEW DAYS, HAS FELT that he was about to suffer again another terrible injustice in the hands of the COMELEC, not because of his qualifications, which has been unjustly questioned, but by wanton act of grave abuse of discretion.
MARQUEZ, THEREFORE, fervently prayed for the URGENT ISSUANCE of the Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to enjoin the Comelec from enforcing its assailed Resolutions in SPA Case No. 21-056 (DC)(MP), promulgated on:
(i) 13 December 2021 and
(ii) 3 January 2022, respectively,
insofar as Petitioner is concerned, thus, enjoining the Comelec to include the name of the Petitioner in the final certified list of senatorial candidates to appear on the printed ballots for the 2022 NLE until after this Honorable Court has resolved this Petition.
THE PRAYER FOR TRO OF NORMAN CORDERO MARQUEZ HAS BEEN FINALLY ANSWERED.
In the TRO dated 19 January 2022, in G.R. No. 258435, MARQUEZ v COMELEC, the SC En Banc states:
"WHEREAS, a Petition for Review on Certiorari with Writ of Injunction and Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) dated January 7, 2022, was filed by Petitioner pro se, assailing the Resolutions dated December 13, 2021, and January 3, 2022, in SPA No. 21-056 (DC)(MP) of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), declaring the petitioner as a nuisance candidate and canceling his Certificate of Candidacy for Senator for the May 9, 2022, National and Local Elections, and denying his motion for reconsideration, respectively;
"WHEREAS, the Petition appears to be sufficient in form and substance;
"WHEREAS, considering the allegations contained, the issues raised and the arguments adduced in the Petition, it is necessary and proper to
"(a) REQUIRE the respondent to COMMENT on the petition within a NON-EXTENDABLE PERIOD of ten (10) days from notice hereof; and
"(b) GRANT the prayer for the issuance of a TRO to enjoin the COMELEC from enforcing its assailed Resolutions;
"NOW, THEREFORE, respondent COMELEC is hereby required to COMMENT on the petition within a NON-EXTENDABLE PERIOD of ten (10) days from notice hereof. Meanwhile, a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER is ISSUED, effective immediately and continuing until further orders from this Court, enjoining You, respondent COMELEC, your agents, representatives, or persons acting in your place or stead, from enforcing the assailed Resolutions dated December 13, 2021, and January 3, 2022, in SPA No. 21-056 (DC)(MP).
"Given by authority of the Honorable ALEXANDER G. GESMUNDO, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, upon the written recommendation of the Member-In-Charge, this 19th day of January, 2022, in Manila, Philippines.
"ANNA-LI R. PAPA-GOMBIO
"Deputy Clerk of Court En Banc"
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of
NORMAN CORDERO MARQUEZ is a native of KAMUNING, QUEZON CITY, and a scholar and graduate of the ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY with the honors course degree of BACHELOR of SCIENCE in MANAGEMENT ENGINEERING. He was a scholar of the Ateneo Scholarship Foundation and the Sacred Heart Parish (Diliman).
He is the eldest child of transport driver PABLO LAO MARQUEZ and dressmaker-tailor LOURDES JUAN CORDERO-MARQUEZ, from among ten (10) siblings, graduating from the public schools of Tomas Morato Elementary School (Kamuning) and Quezon City High School (Diliman).
He married CLAIRE CADENA ASTUDILLO-MARQUEZ, from hometown Bauko, Mountain Province, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and they have 4 children -- JORGE CLARENCE (26), JASON CLARK (23), JEFFERSON CARL (21), and JOYCE CAMILLE (19).
NORMAN MARQUEZ is an ANIMAL WELFARE ADVOCATE who, for the past SIX (6) years, has been traveling around the country, in consultations with stakeholders from the government and private sector, mandated and concerned with the animals, actively and prominently engaging in animal rescues, while assisting in legal actions involving cruelty, maltreatment and negligence against animals, from as far north as Cagayan and Isabela to as far south as Davao and Zamboanga.
He is the Senior Animal Welfare Advocate and founder of the LEAGUE of ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS of the PHILIPPINES (LAWOrgPh) and co-founder of the BAGUIO ANIMAL WELFARE (BAW) CORDILLERA to the REST of the PHILIPPINES (BAWCoRePh), the latter being an animal welfare advocacy group which started in 2016 in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), which has since created a ripple effect and has now been engaged in various rescues and legal assistance in other parts of the country, most of which are in collaboration with the other major and active local animal welfare groups and advocates nationwide, despite the group's limited resources and manpower.
TO DATE, the names โNORMAN MARQUEZ,โ โNORMAN CORDERO MARQUEZ,โ โNORMAN CORDERO-MARQUEZ,โ โNORMAN C. MARQUEZ,โ and โNORMAN MARQUEZ ANIMAL WELFARE ADVOCATEโโ five (5) of his active Facebook accounts and pages -- are now some of the most tagged and mentioned names by animal lovers, advocates, pet owners, and concerned citizens nationwide, seeking for help, advice or consultations, to save, protect, and give justice to, abused animals and pets in distress -- many refer to him as the "PAMBANSANG SUMBUNGAN NG INAABUSONG HAYOP.โ
MARQUEZ is the AUTHOR and PROPONENT of the โNO-IMPOUNDING CITATION SYSTEM (NICS) of Empowering and Making Responsible Pet Owners out of Filipinos to Eliminate the Need for Euthanasia (in the pounds)โ
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LINK of Twitter Post of SC Public Information Office (PIO):
twitter.com/SCPh_PIO/status/1483701823244738561
MARQUEZ v. COMELEC, G.R. No. 244274, 3 September 2019:
sc.judiciary.gov.ph/8191
This is not the first time Norman Marquez challenged a Comelec order declaring him a nuisance candidate.
