PHILIPPINES— The Commission on Elections (Comelec) starts accepting today, October 1, certificates of candidacy (CoCs) for next year’s national polls.
Thousands of aspirants for elective positions have until October 8 to formalize their candidacy.
The Comelec has assured it is prepared to handle the expected heavy volume of CoC filers.
“I can say it’s all systems go even at the national level of the filing [of CoCs] that will be held at Sofitel [Hotel grounds],” Elaiza David-Sabile, director of Comelec’s Education and Information Department, said on Thursday.
Candidates for national positions, such as vice president, senators and party-list groups, have to file their CoCs at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City. The filing venue was transferred from the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila to the more spacious Sofitel grounds for an easier enforcement of Covid-19 protocols, primarily safe distancing.
Candidates for congressmen in independent cities and municipalities must file at their city and municipal election office.
Local candidates (governor, vice governor, congressman, mayor, vice mayor and council members) will file their certificates in their provinces, cities and municipalities.
Candidates for congressmen in the National Capital Region or Metro Manila have to file at the Comelec-National Capital Region in Manila. Filers in the provinces, along with other provincial candidates, should go to the Provincial Election Supervisor or in the designated open venues.
Nominees for party-list organizations shall file at the Comelec law department.
There are 18,180 elective positions up for grabs in the May elections including 80 seats in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). But a proposed law postponing the BARMM polls to 2025 is expected to be signed by President Rodrigo Duterte soon.
The national positions at stake are president, vice president, 12 senators and 63 party-list representatives.
The local positions are 253 district representatives, 81 governors, 81 vice governors, 782 provincial board members, 146 city mayors, 146 city vice mayors, 1,650 city councilors, 1,488 municipal mayors, 1,488 municipal vice mayors and 11,908 municipal councilors.
Jimenez said the Comelec will not accept CoCs filed by mail, electronic mail or facsimile.
“It should be filed either by the candidate or thorough a duly authorized representative. The CoC should be accompanied with a sworn and signed authority to file the document,” he said.
Each CoC should be accompanied by a certificate of nomination and acceptance of accredited political parties, otherwise the filer shall be declared as an independent candidate.
Filers holding appointive positions or who are active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines or officers and employees in government-owned and -controlled corporations shall be considered ipso facto resigned once their CoCs are approved by the Comelec, Jimenez said.
No pause
For President Duterte, who has announced that he is running for vice president, today will be a typical work day, according to Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr.
“Tuluy-tuloy naman po ang trabaho. Work as usual po (Work continues. It is work as usual),” Roque said of the President.
Duterte is scheduled to hold his regular “Talk to the People” public address and will give an update on the government’s fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), he said.
Duterte has accepted the nomination of the ruling party Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) faction, led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, to be its vice-presidential bet. Roque said he does not know when Duterte will file his CoC.
He also said the President has not received any resignation letter from Cabinet officials who are vying in next year’s elections.
He said there is no need for Cabinet secretaries to vacate their posts, since they will be considered resigned once they file their CoCs.
The Cusi camp released a preliminary senatorial ticket during its national convention on September 8.
The list included Roque, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission Commissioner Greco Belgica.
Roque said the President will assign officers-in-charge in the agencies and departments whose heads will in 2022 to prevent a “leadership vacuum.”
Roque refused to confirm if he is running for senator despite the nomination by the Cusi wing of PDP-Laban.
“Hintayin na lang po natin ang Oktubre 8 (Let’s just wait for October 8),” he said.
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