BY GERARD NAVAL and RAYMOND AFRICA
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday said uncertainty surrounding the candidacy of some political aspirants may cause confusion among voters, which would not be “conducive to an orderly election.”
“If the candidate makes an announcement, one would expect that people would react to the announcement and wait for them to make good,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a briefing.
Jimenez did not name names but the most high-profile aspirant to announce a withdrawal is Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, President Duterte’s preferred successor. Go has not gone to the Comelec to formalize his decision to withdraw from the presidential race, which he announced on November 30.
Go, a long-time aid of the President before he was elected a senator, has said he will formalize his withdrawal at the right time. Yesterday, he said he does not see the urgency to formalize the withdrawal of his candidacy, noting that under Comelec rules, he has until May 9 next year, or the day of the national elections, to formalize his decision.
“But as a matter of principle, do not consider me as a candidate anymore dahil nagsalita na ako. Ang nagmamadali lang naman dito ay ang mga kalaban. Huwag kayo magduda dahil nagpapakatotoo ako sa tunay na saloobin ko
(But as a matter of principle, do not consider me as a candidate anymore because I have spoken. Those who are in a hurry are my opponents. Don’t doubt my decision because I am only being true to what I feel),” Go said.
Go also called on his supporters to stop trooping to the Comelec office in efforts to convince him to change his mind, when formally withdraws.
Go first filed a certificate of candidacy for vice president but later formally withdrew and filed for president,
Jimenez acknowledged there is no deadline for a political aspirant to file his withdrawal papers.
He said candidates can even drag the matter up until before proclamation of winners on Election Day.
“We would (just) have to see. We can’t force anyone to do anything that they do not want to,” he said.
Jimenez in an earlier said if Go continues to delay his filing of withdrawal papers, there is a strong possibility that his name will still be included in the official ballots.
“This (delay) is not conducive to an orderly election, so we would hope candidates will understand that. There is no good to be done to the system or to the Filipino people in dragging things like that,” he said in the briefing yesterday.
The Comelec has said that filing of withdrawal require personal appearance of the aspirant.
MASS GATHERINGS
Jimenez lambasted political aspirants who continue to engage in mass gatherings and campaign activities, saying they are endangering the lives of people amid the COVID-19 threat, “just so you can get your photo opportunities, just so you can get your crowds.”
“You are deliberately endangering people through your negligence, through your omission.
Do not endanger your supporters. Do not endanger the rest of the country,” he added.
He reiterated the Comelec’s call for local authorities to implement rules set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), particularly on observing health protocols during political activities.
“Let us not think that politicians are exempted just because they are campaigning. They are not special. They should be covered by those rules,” Jimenez said.
In the past weeks, candidates for national positions have been going around the country to meet with communities and local officials. The activities have led to mass gatherings and failure to observe minimum public health standards, particularly physical distancing.
Campaign guidelines prohibit crowding or allowing crowds that violate health protocols, as well as handshakes, hugs, kisses, and even taking selfies. But the campaign guidelines will take effect only at the official start of the campaign period in February 2022.
The Department of Health appealed to aspirants to stop organizing political activities that will result in overcrowding.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the COVID-19 threat remains despite a decline in the number of new infections.
“We are calling on our officials and candidates to stop holding these types of gatherings and events that will cause overcrowding and might cause infections in the coming weeks,” she said.
“Christmas is coming. Thus, we are hoping that we will be able to maintain the COVID-19 cases low so that we can have a happy Christmas this year,” said added.
Jimenez asked party-list organizations that have been denied registration for the May 2022 polls to opt for legal remedies available to them, instead of heading to the streets to publicly contest the decision.
“Rallying in the streets is probably not a legal remedy,” he said.
Over the weekend, 107 party-list groups, whose bids for registration bids were rejected by the Comelec, were prevented by the Comelec from joining a raffle that will determine the order of listing in official ballots
Yesterday (Monday), members of rejected party-list groups Nurses United and Guardians gathered in front of the Comelec main office in Intramuros, Manila to protest their exclusion from the raffle.
Jimenez also urged individuals and parties to stop talking about details of their cases through the media in a bid to pressure the poll body to act on their case.
“Please refrain from speaking about the case and just let the proceedings do the talking for them,” he said.
Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in a series of social media posts, “Will lawyers for litigants @COMELEC please shut up.”
“When their cases are in court, all lawyers know they are not supposed to talk about it to the media,” she added.
Over the weekend, the camp of Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. maintained that the presidential aspirant is eligible to run in the May 2022 polls. This is despite the growing number of disqualification cases filed against the former senator at the Comelec.
Last week, one of the petitioners against Marcos issued statements stressing that the latter has yet to serve the court’s sentence regarding his conviction for tax evasion.
