Applicants flock to the COMELEC office in Quezon City on September 30, 2024, the last day of voter registration. Prospective voters for the 2025 mid-term elections can register until 3 p.m., a day before the official filing of candidacy begins. ABS-CBN News

MANILA — Commission on Elections officials are gearing up for the kick-off of the Certificate of Candidacy filing period for those posturing for next year’s elections.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia along with Elections Commissioners Rey Bulay and Ernesto Ferdinand Maceda inspected the Manila Hotel Tent City, which will serve as COC filing center for senatorial and party-list nominee aspirants.

The 2,400-square meter hall will be the COC filing venue from October 1 to 8, 2024.

The Tent City will serve as venue for those dreaming to serve as a senator or a party-list organization nominee through the May 12, 2025 national and local elections.

READ: Comelec says poll preps take hit due to proposed budget cut

FILING RULES

Four companions will be allowed to accompany each senatorial wannabe.

A party-list organization filing its Certificate of Nomination and Certificate of  Acceptance of Nomination (CON-CAN), will be allowed to be represented by five representatives.

Security inside the COC filing venue will be tight, but filers and their companions will be welcomed on a red carpet.

Rafael Olaño, Comelec deputy executive director for operations, said each applicant must present during the “pre-evaluation stage” five copies of notarized COC, which must be fully accomplished, carry a recent passport size photo of the individual concerned and the COC must also have a documentary stamp tax.

Only if the requirements are met will the Comelec accept an applicant’s COC, Olaño said.

The Comelec will receive COCs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.  until October 8, including Saturday and Sunday.

“We will not accept incomplete COCs... kung may mga kandidato na nag-file ng maraming COC sa maraming posisyon, pag hindi po nila kinansel any of them... we will considered them as not filed... they will not be eligible for any position,” Olaño stressed.

(Candidates who file multiple COCs will have to cancel the extra ones or we will not consider them as having filed)

Those eyeing a House seat in Metro Manila, can file their COC at the Comelec National Capital Region office in San Juan City.

Aspirants coming from the provinces can lodge their COC in their respective local Comelec office, Olaño said.

Meanwhile, those running for the Bangsamoro Parliament district representative position and as nominee of a political party in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, can only file their COC from November 4 to 9, 2024.

READ: Comelec moves COC filing in BARMM to November after SC ruling on Sulu

Political wannabes who will change their mind and decide to withdraw, can still do so and introduce a substitute, provided that they file the withdrawal between October 1 to 8.

Those who decide to back out from the electoral race for medical reasons are required to submit a signed authority to file the withdrawal form, along with a verified medical certificate before the Comelec.

Comelec Chairman Garcia stressed that filing a COC doesn’t automatically mean that an aspirant can already be a candidate.

“Sapagkat pupwedeng may mag-file ng petition to cancel, or denied due course yung candidacy. Pupwedeng madeklara na nuisance candidate yung isang kandidato o pangglio lamang... at yung mga tao na perpetually disqualified to hold public office  lalo na yung galing sa Ombudsman. Ang Comelec po ay kaagad na pinapatupad... yung ganyang kautusan,” Garcia pointed out.

(Because somebody may file a petition to cancel, or be denied due course to the candidacy. It’s also possible that an individual will be declared a nuisance candidate. There are also individuals who were ordered perpetually disqualified by the Ombudsman. And the Comelec immediately abides by that order.)

In the case of dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, the Comelec has yet to receive a copy of the Ombudsman’s decision perpetually disqualifying her from public office.

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INSIDE THE FILING CENTER

Inside the filing center, COC filers will be given the opportunity to take the centerstage to deliver their message or statement and entertain media queries for 10 minutes.

They will be also have to sign a pledge to run an honest election campaign.

the wall of pledge, where aspirants would commit an honest way of running for their desired position.

Roads going to the Manila Hotel specifically, Katigbak Drive, 25th Street, Independence Road and South Road, will be closed to traffic.

Only COC filers and their companions are allowed to be dropped off at the COC filing venue, according to Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco.

LAST DAY OF VOTER’S REGISTRATION

The Comelec on Monday capped its last day of the Voter’s Registration Program with a total of 233,330 applicants.

Region IV-A or Calabarzon recorded the most registrants on September 30 with 33,749 applicants, followed by Central Luzon’s 27,196.

Batanes suspended its last day of registration due to the onslaught of typhoon Julian.

Garcia said local election officers are given the discretion to reschedule their voter’s registration for another day.

“Kung kakailanganin halimbawa ng Batanes o nung ibang lugar na hindi magkakaroon ng filing of candidacy by tomorrow papayagan po natin yan sapagkat magiging pitong araw lang yan eh dapat walong araw ang filing nila ng certificate of candidacy,” Garcia told journalists.

(If Batanes, for example, suspends its filing of candidacy tomorrow, we will allow them to extend for another day because they will only have seven days with that suspension. They should have eight days of COC filing period.)

Comelec Executive Director Teofisto Elnas, Jr., meanwhile reported the commission’s “expected number of registered voters as of September 26, 2024, at 67,757,800.

Registered senior citizen voters are now at 9,005,367 and persons with disability at 412,501, Elnas said during Monday’s Comelec briefing regarding the status of preparations for next year’s polls.

But applicants still need to undergo evaluation before they are finally registered as voters.

”All applicants for registration from July 1 to September 30, ipo-post namin ang listahan sa local offices natin so everybody will have that opportunity to file their objection, their opposition or questioning the eligibility of each and every applicant,” Elnas said.

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