Comelec: Only 11 days to file certificates of candidacy

MANILA, Philippines - Those planning to run in the 2010 local and national elections must make up their minds soon as they will have only 11 days to file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) with the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

In Resolution 8646, the Comelec said candidates for all positions in the May 10, 2010 polls have only Nov. 20 to 30, 2009 to file their COCs.

This is also the period given to registered party-list groups to file their manifestations of intent to participate in the party-list election.   

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the period for the filing of COCs has been shortened since it has already become the practice of most candidates to file on the last day.

The adjustment is also intended to give more time for the printing of ballots for the automated election next year.

In a telephone interview, Jimenez said that after filing the COCs, candidates are required to observe restrictions, including any form of campaigning before the campaign period has started.

Appointed officials are also required under the law to resign once they file their COCs.

“They just want to have more time to stay outside of the ‘prohibition’ period. I don’t think this will become a problem for candidates. If you want to run, maybe you have been thinking about it for a long time now,” Jimenez added.

Prior to this, those running for national posts were given 27 days to file COCs while those gunning for local positions were given more than two months.

Promulgated last July 14, the resolution stipulates the calendar of activities and periods of prohibited acts in relation to the conduct of the 2010 polls.

The election period runs from Jan. 10 to June 9 next year.

The poll body had set the campaign period for candidates for president, vice-president, senators and party-list groups to Feb. 9 to May 8, 2010.

The deadline for the filing for petitions for registration of political parties and for parties, organizations and coalitions under the party-list system of representation was set on Aug. 17.

Casting of votes by overseas absentee voters (OAV) will start April 10, 2010 (host country time) and will run until 3:00 p.m. of May 10, 2010 (Philippine time).

Voters have from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. to cast their votes on election day.

Meanwhile, six presidential hopefuls, including former President Joseph Estrada, will face off in a people’s forum organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) at the historic Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila this afternoon.

PPCRV and Namfrel chair Henrietta de Villa said aside from Estrada, Senators Mar Roxas, Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda and Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio have committed to attend the forum.

“This will not be a debate. We invited people from all sectors and they will be the ones to ask them about anything. A candidate cannot question or engage in a debate with any of the other candidates because we don’t want this to turn into a cockfight,” De Villa said.

Dubbed “Talakayan sa Plaza Miranda: Mamamayang Pilipino-Alisto,” the forum intends to be a dialogue between the people and those in the government or those who want to run in the 2010 elections.

“We want these candidates to know what the peopled are expecting of them,” she added.

Lessons of the past

In a related development, the Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM) led by University of the Philippines professor and lawyer Harry Roque expressed fear that the Comelec’s P7.2-billion contract with Smartmatic Corp.-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) will be a repeat of the botched P1.2-billion Mega Pacific 2004 automation deal.

The CCM aired their concern after the Supreme Court (SC) did not immediately issue a temporary restraining order on the contract as they had sought in a petition last July 9.

“We call on the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM to respect the rule of law and the Supreme Court as an institution by desisting from any and all acts that may moot the issues that we have raised. Specifically, we ask the Comelec to desist from paying any taxpayers’ money to Smartmatic-TIM out of respect to the Court that has already taken cognizance of the matter,” Roque told reporters in a press conference.

He stressed that their group only wanted to avoid a repeat of the government’s earlier anomalous deal with the Mega Pacific consortium, which involved a similar project and was already nullified by the Court.

“To date we have not recovered even a peso of taxpayers’ money paid for a contract that was nullified,” he lamented.

Roque explained that under SC guidelines, as stated in earlier rulings, proceedings in an assailed contract or case that is pending at the SC should be suspended even without a restraining order “out of respect and courtesy for the High Court.”

The SC has earlier said that it saw no urgency in issuing the TRO being sought by Roque and his group, saying there would be other remedies available like a status quo ante order, which could bring the controversy back to its status prior to the signing of the agreement.

SC spokesman Jose Midas Marquez also admitted that the non-issuance of a TRO would allow the Comelec to deliver payment to the consortium after the contract was signed last Friday.

However, he warned that parties should proceed with the project “with caution” since the Court has already taken jurisdiction of the case. – Edu Punay