THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday called on all aspirants for national and local posts in next year’s elections to file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) and certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONAs) as soon as they can instead of waiting for the deadline this Friday, October 8.
Commissioner Antonio Kho said they are hoping the aspirants would file their COCs and CONAs either today, Wednesday, or tomorrow, Thursday, adding this will help prevent crowding and long queues on Friday.
Kho said doing it ahead of the deadline will enable aspirants to rectify any mistakes in their COCs.
Halfway through the eight-day filing period that started last October 1, 20 have filed COCs for president and seven for vice president, 39 for senator and 48 CONAs for party-lists.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco yesterday filed his COC for reelection as representative of the lone district of Marinduque, saying he has more work to do in the House of Representatives where he has been serving two consecutive terms as congressman for over five years now and as Speaker since October 2020.
“I’m really grateful to the people of Marinduque for giving me many chances and I’m asking them for another one so I can continue to champion their interests and welfare in Congress,” Velasco said as he filed his COC before the local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Boac.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora also filed their COCs for reelection, with Zamora’s supporters even holding a parade to highlight his reelection bid.
“I hope and pray that our beloved QCitizens will once again entrust me with the stewardship of our great city. With your kind support, we can continue the strong momentum we have gained in terms of programs and projects, particulalry jumpstarting the economy and creating better livelihood opportunities,” Belmonte said.
Belmonte is running under the Serbisyo sa Bayan party along with her vice mayor, Gian Sotto. She was first elected to the post in 2019 under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago party.
Belmonte will be up against party-list congressman Mike Defensor, who had earlier filed his COC for mayor.
While the Comelec called on aspirants to avoid last-day filing, PNP chief Guillermo Eleazar told policemen to avoid posting campaign materials on their vehicles, police stations and camps.
The official start of the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president, senators and party-list groups is February 8, 2022 while campaigning for local candidates starts on March 25.
Eleazar said policemen should be apolitical in the May elections. — With Wendell Vigilia, Noel Talacay, Christian Oineza and Victor Reyes
