Philanthropist and businessman Francis Leo Marcos decided to withdraw his candidacy on January 23, 2025, after being favored by the Supreme Court (SC).
Last January 21, SC issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) after they declared Marcos a nuisance candidate, which would cost the agency to reprint their ballots and include the businessman’s name.
COMELEC said that the six million ballots, which cost them P132-M pesos, would be considered a waste because of the order.
According to Marcos, one of the reasons why he decided to end his candidacy was to avoid causing more inconvenience to the government.
He also urged the public to support Sen. Imee Marcos’ candidacy, who shared the same surname.
“Ang pinaka main reason ng withdrawal ko is to avoid the government to spend another 132 million pesos para lang sa balota ko. Ngayon kung hahayaan ko sila na i-shred ‘yung six million ballots na na-print na para lang sa kapakanan ko eh hindi ako mabuting tao non,” said Marcos.
“Para saan pa na naging good samaritan tayo,” he added.
However, Marcos’ withdrawal would not make the 6-M ballots useful again, as other candidates, including Guinthum Mustapha, wanted his disqualification to be reversed.
Because of his withdrawal, COMELEC would postpone reprinting ballots that were initially scheduled for tomorrow.
“Dahil dito sa pagwiwithdraw niya, hihingi muli kami ng mga dalawa hanggang tatlong araw. Sapagkat muli naming babaguhin yung database ng Comelec, isi-serialize muli namin yung balota, yung mga ballot faces muli naming babaguhin,” he stated.