The accused must be presumed innocent until convicted; however, Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo states that those with pending cases but choose to run in the May 2019 midterm elections risk being already deemed as guilty.
On the same breath, Mr Panelo also shares that while reputations may be marred due to accusations, the constitution prohibits barring accused candidates from running for public office.
Ultimately, he states that Filipino voters will be the ones to make the decision as to who they want in office – whether or not the candidates have pending cases.
Some of the more well-known candidates with pending corruption cases who will be running in 2019 are former senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Bong Revilla.
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