Comelec tags 205 ‘nuisance’ bets; voting 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

EDITORIAL

Some 205 aspirants for national positions may be declared nuisance candidates—82 presidential, 15 vice presidential and 108 for senators—the Commission on Elections said.
    The Comelec said the petitions for the cancellation of the certificate of candidacy of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should be resolved immediately.
    “These should be resolved before the official list of candidates is released,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.
    “If proceedings will not take long, if there are not many hearings or clarificatory hearings, it looks like we will resolve the petitions on time. Parties were given earlier only three days to submit their respective memoranda and pleadings.
    Meanwhile, petitions to declare as nuisance candidates have been filed by the poll body to declare a total 205 aspirants for national posts as nuisance candidates, according to Comelec Director Elaiza Sabile-David.
    David said that if candidates did not have a legitimate intention or platform to run, they would be considered a “nuisance” and would be seen to cause a “mockery” of the electoral process.
    Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code states that the Comelec may, motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy.
    Meanwhile, the voting hours for the May 9, 2022 national and local elections will be from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said.
    During a briefing of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, Casquejo said the Comelec en banc already approved the general instructions for the board of election inspectors that will be enforced on Election Day.
    “We do not expect that it will end at 7 o’clock, it will continue until such time all those inside or within 30 meters will be catered. We have procedures on that,” he said.
    In related developments, the Comelec is now accepting applications from those qualified to avail themselves of local absentee voting for the May 9 national and local elections.
    Among those who may avail themselves of the LAV are government officials and employees, including members of the Armed Forces, Philippine National Police, as well as media members and their technical and support staff.
    Applicants must be duly registered voters whose registration records are not deactivated and will be temporarily assigned to perform election duties or to cover and report the holding of the elections in places where they are not registered voters.
    The forms may be downloaded at comelec.gov.ph and will be distributed to all government agencies, AFP, PNP, media entities, corporations, or members of the media.
    The local absentee voting period is on April 27, 28 and 29 next year, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Those qualified will only cast their votes for the positions of president, vice president, senators and party-list representatives.
    At the same time, President Rodrigo Duterte urged the Comelec to come up with a plan that would allow candidates in the 2022 local and national elections to hold even limited in-person campaigns.
    Duterte said not all candidates could afford to pay for political advertisements particularly on television.
    “I’d like to remind the Comelec that you must give the candidates, really, the space and whatever modality there is. Because there can never be an election without a campaign and other people cannot also afford – some candidates cannot afford the expense of [television] exposures,” he said.
    The Comelec earlier noted a “major shift” in the election campaign amid the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    Jimenez reminded the aspirants to strictly comply with health and safety protocols, particularly when holding political gatherings.
    The candidates who will ignore the existing pandemic protocols are “endangering their own supporters,” he said.