NILINAW ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) na walang sinabi sa desisyon kaugnay ng disqualification cases ni presidential aspirant Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. na hindi ipinagbabawal ang hindi paghahain ng income tax return (ITR).

Ayon kay Comelec spokesman James Jimenez “taken out of context” ang bahagi ng desisyon na ikinakalat sa social media kung saan pinalalabas na hindi krimen ang hindi paghahain ng ITR.

“What they’re doing is that they’re taking that particular line out of context ‘di ba? Sinabi talaga ‘yan. The decision does say that but the decision was saying that in the context trying to explain between a crime mala in se versus mala prohibitum,” sabi ni Jimenez.

Kapag inintindi umano ang buong desisyon walang sinasabi roon na hindi pinarurusahan ang hindi naghahain ng ITR. Nabanggit din umano sa desisyon na bawal ang hindi paghahain ng ITR.

“This is a very important criminal law principle. What it says is that a crime mala in se is a crime that is by itself naturally wrong. For example murder, you don’t need a law to tell you that murder is wrong. But there are some offenses that are mala prohibita, which means they are considered wrong under the law, only because a special law exists that criminalizes it. For example, cutting down a tree, cutting down a tree is not inherently wrong but because there’s a law that says cutting down a tree is wrong then it becomes wrong,” paliwanag pa ni Jimenez.

Nilinaw din ni Jimenez na magkaiba ang hindi paghahain ng ITR sa kasong tax evasion.

Ibinasura ng Comelec First Division ang tatlong disqualification case na inihain laban kay Marcos dahil sa kawalan ng merito.