MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) called on voters to scrutinize the nominees of party-list organizations joining the 2025 midterm elections and file petitions against those with questionable qualifications.
The poll body made the call after publishing the list of all nominees of party-list groups in two newspapers on Thursday.
“The Comelec cannot cancel nominations motu proprio. There must be a registered voter, who will question them,” Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia said in an interview.
“Hopefully, the people will exercise the power and the right to question such nominees.”
Garcia said all petitions to deny due course or cancelation of the nomination of party-list nominees must be filed within five days after the publication of the list of nominees.
All party-list organizations were required to submit the names of 10 nominees from which the party-list representatives shall be chosen.
Under Resolution 9366, a party-list nominee should be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines; a registered voter; a resident of the Philippines for not less than one year immediately preceding Election Day; able to read and write; a bona fide member of the party he seeks to represent for at least 90 days preceding Election Day; and at least 25 years of age.
On the other hand, a verified petition seeking to deny due course the nomination of nominees of party-list groups may be filed by any person exclusively on the ground that a material misrepresentation has been committed in the qualification of the nominees.
Fate of Bangsamoro polls up to Congress
Amid calls for the postponement of the first regular parliamentary polls in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Garcia said its fate is up to lawmakers.
“We will defer to the sound judgment and wisdom of Congress on this matter,” he said, noting that their preparations for the BARMM polls “shall proceed as scheduled.”
The Comelec has already set the filing period for the Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) in the forthcoming polls from November 4 to 9.
A total of 80 seats in the Bangsamoro Parliament are up for grabs in the parliamentary elections, which coincides with the midterm polls on May 12, 2025.
Earlier, the Bangsamoro Parliament adopted a resolution requesting both Houses of Congress to postpone the regional elections.
In case of a postponement, the term of the Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA), which ends on June 30, 2025, could be extended until June 30, 2028. (PNA)