Comelec screens list for nuisance bets

Comelec to ensure nuisance candidates don’t make it to ballot

AT least 18 independent candidates in the Province aspire to sit as governor, vice governor, congressmen and Provincial Board (PB) members. But are they qualified to run?

Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc will decide if the person who filed his/her certificate of candidacy (COC) is eligible or should be declared as nuisance candidate.

The provincial Comelec office has submitted the soft copy of the candidates’ list through an email last Saturday.

Castillano, together with two provincial Comelec staffs, will leave today to submit the hard copy to the Comelec Central Office.

Letter

The provincial Comelec official believed the Comelec Central Office will send a letter to them to look for candidates who might have filed their COC to disturb the election process.

Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code or the Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 states that “the Commission may motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy if it is shown that it has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate.”

Candidates

The provincial Com- elec office recorded six independent candidates who will run as PB members in the third district, three in the fourth district, two in the second district and another two in the first district.

Three candidates with no party will run for governor while one for vice governor.

Another one independent candidate will compete with Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia and PB Member Grecilda Sanchez as congressman in the third district.

Castillano said they will wait for the Comelec Manila to send them a letter before they will call the candidates and interview them about their intention to run.

Campaign

“You will know if the candidate is a nuisance kung kada election molansar unya di mangampanya ug di mo- file ug (if he/she

will always file his COC during election but does not conduct any campaign and file his/her) SOCE or statement of contribution and expenditures,” he said.

Castillano suspects there is a nuisance candidate this time after he advised one person, who filed his COC last week, to submit his SOCE when his name appeared in their list.

He said the election officer or supervisor will recommend to Comelec Manila whether or not a particular candidate is a nuisance.

In a separate interview, Provincial Election Officer Ferdinand Gujilde said a person is also considered a nuisance candidate if he/ she is not serious in filing his/her candidacy because the field officers have the first impression of the candidate’s behavior.

Gujilde said the Comelec also needs to look at who are running, especially persons who only want to mock the electoral process, because it will add to their expenses.

“If you don’t weed out the nuisance candidates basin atong balota taas pa sa tissue paper (maybe our ballot will be longer than a roll of tissue paper),” he added.