Dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo (left) and Comelec chairman George Garcia (proper) in the course of the resumption of a Senate panel’s probe into Philippine offshore gaming operators (Pogos) on Could 22, 2024. | Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.web
MANILA, Philippines — Fee on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia on Friday stated stricter guidelines on certificates of candidacy (COC) submitting would assist forestall materials misrepresentation instances like what occurred to dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo (actual title: Guo Hua Ping).
This was his reply when requested what the Comelec would do to stop the repeat of Guo’s case.
“Sana po might pagbabago sa batas natin at bigyan ng discretion ang Comelec sa pagtanggap o di pagtanggap ng certificates of candidacy. ‘Yan po ang current state of issues in the case of the submitting of the COC,” he stated.
READ: Alice Guo might face raps for election-related offenses – Comelec
(I hope our legal guidelines might be amended and let the Comelec have discretion in accepting certificates of candidacy. That’s the current state of issues in the case of the submitting of COC.)
For former senator Joey Lina, “the answer lies with Congress to enact a legislation that may make it tough or inconceivable for any impostor [to assume] Filipino citizenship.”
READ: Alice Guo information counter-affidavit vs Comelec’s misrepresentation cost
This was seconded by Garcia. He stated there needs to be further necessities except for the COC, however “the Comelec can’t add qualification to what’s not supplied for by the Structure.”
“Ang aming responsibility, ministerial lang. Amin pong titignan kung kumpleto ba lahat ng mga dapat na i-accomplish na kind ng COC… Kapag nakumpleto, tatanggapin po namin. We now have no proper to refuse the submitting of the acceptance of the COC,” he added.
READ: Bamban mayor Alice Guo says she spent simply P134,000 in 2022 marketing campaign
(Our responsibility is barely ministerial. We’ll examine in the event that they accomplished the COC kind… Whether it is full, then we are going to settle for.)
COC submitting
Nevertheless, Garcia stated the ballot physique can nonetheless settle for the COCs of filers who’ve pending disqualification instances on the Workplace of the Ombudsman.
READ: Alice Guo’s start certificates: Petition to cancel this filed
“Kung ang isang tao ay perpetually disqualified to carry public workplace base sa desisyon ng Workplace of the Ombudsman pero tatanggapin pa rin namin ang COC. Kung makakatakbo lang, ‘yan ang aming pagdedesisyunan,” he defined.
(If an individual is perpetually disqualified to carry public workplace primarily based on the choice of the Workplace of the Ombudsman, we are going to nonetheless settle for the COC. We’ll resolve if that particular person can run for the elections.)
Garcia additionally admitted that there have been many instances the place candidates nonetheless bought to run for public workplace regardless of submitting false info on their COCs.
Citizenship
In August, Comelec issued a subpoena in opposition to Guo for alleged materials misrepresentation in her COC within the 2022 elections. This got here after the Nationwide Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the fingerprints of the previous mayor in Comelec’s voting information and the fingerprints of a Chinese language girl named Guo Hua Ping on the NBI matched.
Comelec defined that it was not their fault that Guo assumed public workplace regardless of questions on her citizenship as a result of their solely function was to just accept her COC and that nobody filed a petition to cancel her candidacy.
“Dapat might nag-file ng isang petition. Kung might nag-file, naaksyunan po sana namin. Kaya nung naging mabigat na difficulty, ang sabi po namin, nung na-proclaim po siya, wala na pong energy ang Comelec,” he defined.
(There needs to be a petition filed. If there was a petition, we’d have acted on it. That’s why when the difficulty was getting huge, what we stated was when she was proclaimed, the Comelec not had any energy.)
“As soon as proclaimed na ang isang kandidato, the facility of the Comelec will vanish and subsequently pag naproklama at might nagkwestyon ay dapat ibang ahensya ng pamahalaan,” he added.
(As soon as a candidate is proclaimed [a winner], the facility of the Comelec will vanish and subsequently, if they’re proclaimed and somebody questions it, one other authorities company ought to deal with it.)
Misrepresentation instances
Garcia additionally stated residents can assist forestall misrepresentation instances by submitting a petition to cancel an aspirant’s COC.
Below Rule 23 of Comelec’s Decision No. 9523, a registered voter or a duly registered political celebration can file a petition to disclaim or cancel a COC “on the unique floor that any materials illustration contained therein as required by legislation is fake.”
Garcia stated the petition should be filed no later than 25 days after the aspirant filed their COC. In any other case, the case might be filed for “lack of jurisdiction.”
The Comelec publishes the COCs on its web site in order that voters can examine if a candidate has a questionable id or background. If there is a matter, the ballot physique will resolve on it, Garcia added.
The COC submitting for candidates within the Bangsamoro Autonomous Area in Muslim Mindanao was moved to November 4-9 after the Supreme Court docket dominated that the Sulu province is not a part of the area, whereas submitting for the remainder of the nation will run from October 1-8.
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