Comelec appeals to public to help in vetting poll bets

THE controversy surrounding the alleged misdeclaration of the Filipino citizenship of Mayor Alice Guo of Bamban, Tarlac, has prompted the Commission on Election (Comelec) to intensify its call to the public to help in the vetting of candidates for the 2025 polls.

In a Viber message, Comelec Chairman George M. Garcia stressed the important role of voters in verifying the declaration of candidates in their certificate of candidacy (COC) like their age or citizenship.

“Our [election] law is okay. Our voters just have to be vigilant to file DQ [disqualification] cases against candidates like her [Guo],” the Garcia said.

The Comelec, he said, would include this appeal in the voters’education process for the 2025 elections.

Since Comelec’s acceptance of the COCS is part of its ministerial duties, Garcia said the poll body is mandated to presume that its contents are factual until the certificate is assailed through the filing of a disqualification or cancellation case against a particular candidate.

The previous attempt by the poll body to verify the content of the COC by requiring aspiring candidates to submit additional documents such as a certification they are not a drug user, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Garcia said this was what happened in the case of Guo, when she submitted her COC to run for mayor in the 2022 polls.

In her COC, Guo said she is a Filipino citizen, despite allegedly being a Chinese national.

Citing their records, Garcia said no individual or party has filed a disqualification or cancellation of candidacy against Guo.

Comelec said Guo can be charged with perjury if it will be proven that she faked the details in her COC, which is a notarized document.