(UPDATED) Contrary to a report by One News, a television news channel under cable provider Cignal TV, retired Supreme Court (SC) associate justice Antonio Carpio did not and “has no plans to file” a petition at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the disqualification of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as candidate for president in the 2022 elections.
STATEMENT
At 10:14 p.m. on Nov. 2, One News published on its official YouTube channel a 2:24-minute report by mobile journalist Jacob Lazaro titled “Carpio files disqualification case vs. Marcos, Jr.”, with the caption:
“Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio confirms to ONE News he filed a case before the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the disqualification of presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos due to a 1995 tax evasion case.”
Source: One News PH, Carpio files disqualification case vs. Marcos, Jr., Nov. 2, 2021
In the report, Lazaro said the “petition” cited Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code, which states that conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude perpetually bars a person from running or holding a public office, as a ground to disqualify Marcos in next year’s polls.
The report was originally aired on the channel’s news program The Big Story at 8 p.m. on the same day. It was likewise published in the official Facebook page of One News PH.
The report is still up on YouTube and Facebook and has since garnered 3,892 and more than 39,000 views, respectively, as of Nov. 6.
FACT
Carpio did not and “has no plans to file” a petition to disqualify Marcos in the 2022 presidential race.
Responding to a VERA Files Fact Check inquiry on Nov. 5, Carpio said:
“I never confirmed to them (One News) [that I filed a petition with Comelec to disqualify Marcos].”
When asked if he has not filed a petition to disqualify Marcos Jr. as of date, Carpio replied:
“I have not filed as of today, no plans to file one.”
The inaccurate One News report did not carry any video clip of Carpio saying that he had filed a petition. What it showed was a clip from an Oct. 29 interview of the former justice on One News’ The Chiefs in connection to his column on Inquirer.net a day prior, in which he said any disqualification case against Marcos on the grounds of moral turpitude will ultimately be decided by Comelec and the SC.
During the interview, Carpio told the hosts that “any registered voter” may file a petition against Marcos until Nov. 2. Nowhere in it did he say he will file a petition even when he was categorically asked about it.
“Q: Would that registered voter be you?”
“Carpio: I’m a registered voter, of course, but there’ll [be] many … many will file. I am sure there will be many who will file.”
Source: One News official YouTube Channel, THE CHIEFS | OCTOBER 29, 2021, Oct. 29, 2021, watch from 7:58 to 8:09
On Nov. 2, a group of civic leaders, led by priest Christian Buenafe of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines and Fides Lim of Kapatid, filed a petition at Comelec to cancel or deny due course the certificate of candidacy of Marcos for failing to disclose that he was convicted in 1995 for non-payment of income tax from 1982 to 1985. (See Final decision to bar Bongbong Marcos in 2022 nat’l elections due to tax evasion is on SC – Carpio)
Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez said in a Nov. 4 interview that the commission will “probably” resolve the case by late December.
UPDATE: In a letter to VERA Files dated Nov. 8, One News political editor Ed Lingao acknowledged the error in the video report. He said:
“We would … like to acknowledge that Vera Files is absolutely correct in pointing out that Carpio did not file any petition vs. Mr. Marcos. That was clearly an error on our part. […] For this, we apologize to Justice Carpio and to all our viewers, and we resolve to be more prudent in meeting the daily deadlines.”
Read the full letter here.
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Sources
One News official YouTube Channel, Carpio files disqualification case vs. Marcos, Jr., Nov. 2, 2021
OneNews.PH, About Us, Accessed Nov. 5, 2021
Cignal TV, One News, Accessed Nov. 5, 2021
One News official YouTube channel, THE BIG STORY | NOVEMBER 2, 2021, Nov. 2, 2021
One News official Facebook, THE BIG STORY | NOVEMBER 2, 2021, Nov. 2,
One News official Facebook channel, Carpio files disqualification case vs. Marcos, Jr., Nov. 2, 2021
Personal communication with former Supreme court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, Nov. 5, 2021
One News official YouTube channel, THE CHIEFS | OCTOBER 29, 2021,Oct. 29, 2021
Kapatid, Copy of the petition against Marcos. Jr filed on Nov. 2, 2021, Nov. 2, 2021
Inquirer.net, Can Marcos Jr. be disqualified? | Inquirer Opinion, Oct. 28, 2021
CNN Philippines, Atty. Vic Rodriguez & Comelec spox James Jimenez | The Source, Nov. 4, 2021
(Guided by the code of principles of the International Fact-Checking Network at Poynter, VERA Files tracks the false claims, flip-flops, misleading statements of public officials and figures, and debunks them with factual evidence. Find out more about this initiative and our methodology.)
