The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will open its offices on Nov. 13, a Saturday, to await the “unprecedented” number of withdrawals and substitutions among aspirants for national positions before the Nov. 15 deadline.
On Thursday, the Comelec headquarters in Manila began to go live on Facebook, apparently in anticipation of the arrival of aspirants who have to personally file their statements of withdrawal. Their substitutes, who are required to be their political party mates, may file their own certificates of candidacy (COCs) personally or through a representative.
“At the local level this (number of withdrawals and substitutions) is pretty common, but at the national level this is sort of unprecedented,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a television interview on Thursday.
On Wednesday, Jimenez said Comelec offices would open on Saturday to avert crowding among withdrawing aspirants and their substitutes on the last day, Nov. 15, which falls on a Monday.
Jimenez made his announcement on the same day President Duterte’s daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, withdrew her COC for reelection, a move seen as indicating her intention to run for national office, after all.
While the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy was last Oct. 8, the Comelec allows voluntary withdrawal of COCs and substitutions among party mates until Nov. 15.
To be a substitute candidate, Mayor Duterte has to join one of the national political parties registered with the Comelec that fielded candidates for national positions.
On Thursday, she resigned from her Hugpong ng Pagbabago, which is not registered as a national political party.
Aspirants who said they would run as independent candidates cannot be substituted anymore once they withdraw their COC.
The Comelec is expected to release the final list of candidates in December. It said earlier that it had initiated petitions to declare as nuisance candidates 82 of 97 presidential aspirants, 15 of 28 vice presidential aspirants, and 108 of 174 senatorial aspirants. (© Philippine Daily Inquirer News)
