A petition for disqualification under Section 68 clearly refers to "the commission of prohibited

acts and possession of a permanent resident status in a foreign country." (Fermin v.

Commission on Elections, G.R. Nos. 179695 and 182369, 18 December 2008, 574 SCRA
782, 794-795.) All the offenses mentioned in Section 68 refer to election offenses
under the Omnibus Election Code, not to violations of other penal laws. There is
absolutely nothing in the language of Section 68 that would justify including violation of the
three-term limit rule, or conviction by final judgment of the crime of falsification under the
Revised Penal Code, as one of the grounds or offenses covered under Section 68.

In Codilla, Sr. v. de Venecia, 442 Phil. 139, 177-178 (2002), this Court ruled:

[T]he jurisdiction of the COMELEC to disqualify candidates is limited to those enumerated in

Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code. All other election offenses are beyond the ambit of
COMELEC jurisdiction. They are criminal and not administrative in nature. x x x