Salvador Benedicto mayoralty bet withdraws COC

A MAYORALTY candidate in Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental withdrew her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to give way to her party mate.

However, the withdrawal of the COC of retired nurse Myrna Castillo and the Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance of her supposed substitute, Antonio De Jesus, was not accepted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Salvador Benedicto.

Due to this, Castillo and De Jesus reportedly submitted their documents to the Comelec provincial office.

Provincial elections supervisor Jessie Suarez advised the election officers to accept all the documents and that all the complaints will still be addressed by the Comelec Legal Department in Manila.

The deadline for the withdrawal of COC and substitution of candidates has already ended on November 29.

Comelec said that no substitution due to withdrawal shall be allowed after November 29.

In the same resolution promulgated on October 1, the Comelec said the substitute for a candidate, who died or was disqualified by final judgment, may file a COC up to mid-day of Election Day.

This would be acceptable, provided that the substitute candidate and the substituted candidate have the same surnames.*