By Ferdinand Patinio | Philippine News Agency
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it would release the initial list of candidates for next year’s midterm elections before the end of this month.
“Bago matapos [ang] October, mga around Oct. 29, ay ilalabas na ng Comelec sa aming website ang initial na listahan ng mga nag-file ng COC (certificate of candidacy),” Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing.
However, Laudiangco said this does not necessarily mean that all candidates would be allowed to run in the polls.
“Tandaan natin, nitong October namin matatanggap ang iba-ibang uri ng kaso, petition to cancel or deny due course sa COC, disqualification or perpetual disqualification, at petition to declare as nuisance candidates,” he said.
Laudiangco, meanwhile, assured that these COCs would undergo tight scrutiny.
Based on the data provided by Comelec Chairperson George Erwin Garcia, the initial areas in the country that have forwarded the hard and soft copies of COCs and other election documents were the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Baguio City, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mt. Province from Cordillera Administrative Region; Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, and La Union in Ilocos Region; Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Isabela, Quirino, and Cagayan in Cagayan Valley.
The poll body also received election documents from the province of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Zambales in Central Luzon; Batangas and Cavite in Calabarzon and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Districts of Davao.
The documents are being received by the Comelec at the third floor of the Palacio del Gobernador building in Intramuros, Manila.
The poll body received more than 43,000 COCs from those seeking to be elected as senators, party-list representatives, and for various positions in provinces, cities, and municipalities nationwide from Oct. 1 to 8.
