P1-M bond mulled for nuisance bets

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is considering imposing a P1-million bond for every certificate of candidacy (COC) filed to discourage nuisance candidates.

“Maybe if we can make them post a bond of P1 million, we can keep the noisy ones away. I just had that thought,”Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said over the weekend.

Brillantes added that under the proposal, a candidate might have to get a certain number of votes for the bond not to be forfeited.

For the senatorial race alone, a total of 84 aspirants have filed COCs. Almost half are relative unknowns who have no track record of public service.

Based on the initial screening of COCs filed, the Comelec declared 27 of the 84 aspirants qualified to run in the 2013 polls. The rest still have to prove their intention in seeking Senate seats.

The 27 are Ana Theresia Hontiveros of Akbayan; John Carlos de los Reyes, Marwil Llasos, and Rizalito David, Ang Kapatiran; Juan Edgardo Angara, Laban; Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, Maria Ana Consuelo Madrigal, and Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Liberal Party; Teodoro Casiño, Makabayan; Alan Peter Cayetano, Antonio Trillanes IV, and Cynthia Villar, Nacionalista Party; Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. and Lorna Regina Legarda, Nationalist People’s Coalition; Aquilino Martin Pimentel III, PDP-Laban; Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Margarita Cojuangco, Joseph Victor Ejercito, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan, Ernesto Maceda, Maria Milagros Esperanza Magsaysay, and Juan Miguel Zubiri, UNA; Francis Joseph Escudero, Mary Grace Llamanzares, Edward Hagedorn, and Ramon Montao, independent candidates.

Aside from screening the COCs, the Comelec is also scrutinizing close to 300 registered and new party-list groups applying for accreditation.

The Comelec has targeted to release the names of all qualified candidates before the end of December as the printing of ballots is set in January.