Comelec junks 1,000 overspending cases

Comelec has cleared its backlog of electoral petitions

The Commission on Elections has cleared its backlog of more than 1,000 electoral overspending cases by dismissing the complaints filed since 2014.

The junking of the said cases was in compliance with a September 2022 recommendation of Comelec Law Department Director Maria Norina Tangaro-Casingal as cases have reached an eight-year backlog.

Among the dismissed cases were 488 petitions related to the 2010 elections and 536 in the 2013 vote, including 98 motions for reconsideration for both years.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said petitions with MFRs may reach the Supreme Court.

Comelec said Wednesday in a statement that 2,000 cases have been dismissed by its commissioners en banc from 2007 to 2013, while other backlogged cases in 2013 and 2016, including about 3,000 petitions related to Statement of Contributions and Expenditures, are expected to be resolved.

Garcia also vowed to resolve nuisance cases within the year.

“The concept of nuisance candidates has been abused. They know that it will not be resolved quickly, so their names will still be included in the list of candidates. There will be confusion as to who the people will be voting. Sometimes, those who have been proclaimed should not be proclaimed in the first place,” he said.

PDL registration Meanwhile, the Comelec’s Vulnerable

Sectors Office urged persons deprived of liberty to register as voter when its staff visit eight prisons and correctional facilities across the country on 11 and 12 January.

The voter registration drive for PDLs will be done at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City and the Correctional Institution for Women in Mandaluyong City, both in Metro Manila; Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm in Puerto Princesa, Palawan; Sablayan Prison and Penal Farm in Occidental Mindoro; Leyte Regional Prison in Abuyog, Leyte; and Zamboanga City Prison, and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm and Correctional Institution for Women in Panabo, Davao del Norte.

The Comelec’s Vulnerable Sectors Office urged persons deprived of liberty to register as voter.

Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco said 30,281 Filipino senior citizens, persons with disabilities, members of indigenous communities and PDLs have already registered since the start of voter registration last December.

From 12 to 30 December, more than 127,000 have already registered in the poll body’s regular voter registration process. These include 60,491 people ages 15 to 17 qualified to vote for the Sangguniang Kabataan elections, 101,944 registrants ages 18 to 30, and 25,694 registrants 31 years old and above.

For overseas voter registration, 1,097 Filipino migrants have registered based on data from Philippine embassies and consulates around the world, as well as 25 local registrants who will be an overseas voter for the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.