After COC filing, when do you we call them ‘candidates’?
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Certificate of Candidacy (COC) is a crucial step for those who aspire to run for a public office.
The COC also serves as a proof to identify who might be the candidates for the upcoming elections to be managed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“Makita gyud nato, maklaro na gyud nato og kinsa gyud ang mga kandidato, ang moapil, mosalmot sa eleksyon,” said lawyer Marchel Sarno, Comelec Cebu Province election supervisor, in an interview with CDN Digital.
(We can now see clearly who are the candidates, the participants, the ones joining the elections.)
Section 73 of the Omnibus Election Code states that no person is eligible for any elective public office unless he files COC before the Comelec.
In other reports, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that COC was also a document required by law that would establish an aspirant’s “qualifications and none of the disqualifications” that would declare the aspirant’s political party affiliation.
However, those individuals who filed their COCs are not already considered as candidates but “aspirants” according to Sarno.
“Dili pa sila kandidato. Dili pa sila governed sa campaign laws,” Sarno said.
(They are not yet candidates. They are not yet governed by campaign laws.)
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Sarno said that “any campaigning before March 28” are only covered in the aspirants’ freedom of expression.
The aspirants are only considered “candidates” during the campaign period, Sarno said.
The filing of COCs took place from October 1 to 8.
The campaign period for the local positions will be on March 28, 2025 which is 45 days before the election day slated May 12, 2025, in accordance with the Omnibus Election Code.
The campaign period in the national election for senatorial position and partylist start on February 11, 2025 which is 90 days before the election.
“Naay mga poster diha, bisan even in public. Dili na nato maremove ug dili na siya covered sa ato bang Comelec nga mag ‘Operation Baklas’ ta. Tungod kay wala pa ma’y kandidato. Kandidato ra na sila at the start of the campaign period,” Sarno said.
(There are posters there, even in public. We cannot remove them and those are still not yet covered by our Comelec that will conduct ‘Operation Baklas.’ That is because there are still no candidates yet. They can only be candidates at the start of the campaign period.)
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However, if the local government would have an ordinance that would prohibit any forms of littering, then those campaign materials would be removed only if the ordinance would order it, Sarno said.
Comelec chairman George Garcia also said in an interview with national media that based on the Supreme Court ruling (Peñera vs Comelec), there is no longer “premature campaigning” in the automated elections.
Once the COCs are filed, the Comelec will undergo evaluation process to identify if the aspirant has “false material representation” which “can be grounds for cancellation of candidacy or denial of due course coupled with misrepresentation as an election offense aside from the crime of perjury” according to Garcia.
Section 68 of the Omnibus Election Code provides grounds for disqualifications of a candidate.
When the Comelec begins their evaluation process, they may declare some aspiring candidates as “nuisance candidates.”
According to Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code, they can cancel the nuisance candidate’s COC “if it is shown that said certificate 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.” | with reports from Inquirer.net