MANILA – Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman George Garcia on Tuesday said more petitions to cancel certificates of candidacy (COCs) are expected to be filed in the coming days.
“For sure, the number will increase to thousands,” Garcia said in a media interview.
As of October 19, the poll body has received a total of 43 petitions to deny or cancel COCs.
Under Comelec rules, petitions must be filed not later than a non-extendible period of 25 days from the time of filing of the COC.
The Comelec said it received 223 petitions to declare as nuisance candidates, with 117 filed motu proprio against senatorial aspirants, and106 filed against local bets.
Garcia said the poll body will resolve the petitions before December.
“We will resolve all of these before the end of November because no nuisance candidates must be included in the official ballots so as to prevent causing confusion to voters,” he said.
The nuisance candidate cases have already been raffled to the Comelec First and Second Divisions, handling 107 and 113 cases, respectively.
A total of 43, 033 aspirants nationwide have filed their COCs and Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance (CONAs) on October 1-8 for 18, 280 posts that are up for grabs in the 2025 midterm elections.
No fake news, disinformation
Meanwhile, Garcia said fake news, disinformation, and propaganda against other bets on social media are prohibited.
“Walang bastos, double meaning or fake news, no political advertisements or posts tungkol sa awayan, kaguluhan or hidwaan (No rudeness, double meaning or fake news, no political advertisements or posts about strive, chaos or conflict),” he said in a media forum at Harbor View on Tuesday.
He said the Comelec had signed an agreement with social media platforms such as Meta, Google and Tiktok, giving them the power to take down posts that are considered violative of the agreement provisions.
“Pupuwede sila magtanggal, wala kaming magagawa. Dun sila magrereklamo sa platform concerned (They can take down, we can’t do anything. They should complain to the platform concerned)” Garcia said.
Garcia also called on candidates to have their social media accounts registered with the poll body until December 13, 2024. (PNA)