Gatmaytan Dante B. Archives — UP College of Law

Reversing the Comelec

The majority opinion allows a person who continuously failed to file income tax returns to run for the highest office of government. It undermines Supreme Court decisions that stress the importance of paying taxes: “The principle is well established that taxes are the lifeblood of government and every citizen is duty bound to pay taxes and to pay taxes in the right amount.” The Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision dismissing the petitions to disqualify Ferdinand Marcos Jr. from running in the 2022 elections should be reversed. The decision was promulgated by two members of the “former First Division” after Commissioner…

Beyoncé for President: Popularity is not a free pass to the Presidency

'A basic rule in political law is that a candidate for public office should have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications for office.' There are statements making social media rounds that view the qualifications of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. — his eligibility to run for President — as a political question. The argument goes that a political question cannot be decided by the Commission on Elections, and ultimately by the Supreme Court. This is incorrect. These statements also promote the view that a candidate (Marcos) who is leading in election surveys cannot be disqualified, ostensibly, because the people will…

The President’s Health: A Duty to Disclose

by Prof. Dante B. Gatmaytan “It is a ministerial duty on the part of the Office of the President to make the status of the President known to the public. What is discretionary is the manner in which it is to be released.” Professor Dante Gatmaytan discusses his observations and opinion regarding the recent dismissal by the Supreme Court of the case of De Leon v Duterte, where for the first time since 1987, Section 12 of Article VII of the Constitution which provides that "[i]n case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of…

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