ELECTIONS chairman George Garcia yesterday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is not in favor of the proposal of Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. to delay the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) to December this year.
Garcia said delaying the scheduled October 1 to 8 COC filing period for the May 2025 national and local elections “will have far reaching implications.”
In an interview, Garcia said moving the filing of certificates to December, as proposed by Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., will affect the poll body’s preparations for the midterm polls.
He also said changing the filing period will push back their resolution of petitions for disqualification, for cancellation of/denying due course to the COC, or of declaration as a nuisance candidate.
“It would be more complicated if the names of the nuisance candidates would be included in the ballots. Our commitment is to resolve all such cases by November 30 to avoid complications,” he said, as he stressed that the Commission is bent on pursuing the October schedule.
Garcia also said they need more time for the printing of ballots since they would be printing precinct-specific ballots that will include the names of all candidates.
“As practiced in recent elections, we will have pre-printed ballots, and they will number to more or less 70 million ballots,” he said.
Garcia also said that an additional two-month period would be immaterial in deciding whether to run for public office or not.
“If they want to run, why is there a need to delay the COC filing by two months? If you want to run, you will. If you don’t want to run, you won’t,” he said.
Abante has earlier filed House Resolution No. 1942 proposing that the deadline for the COC filing be moved from October 8 to December 8.
Abante said delaying the COC filing period will provide “sufficient time for candidates to make the appropriate evaluations, preparations, and decisions”.
Under the Comelec schedule of activities for the May 2025 elections, the last day of the Register Anywhere Program (RAP) will be on August 31, while the last day of registration for local and overseas voters will end on September 30.
Political parties can hold their conventions and select or nominate their candidates from September 1 to 28.
The filing of certificates of candidacies, certificates of nominations and acceptances is scheduled from October 1 to 8.
The election period gun ban will begin on January 12, 2025, and will last until June 11.
The campaign period for senatorial candidates and party-list groups will be from February 11 to May 10, while the campaign period for candidates to the House of Representatives, parliamentary, provincial, city, and municipal officials will be from March 28 until May 10.
