Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said lawmakers should just propose restrictions instead of removing the substitution rule from the Omnibus Election Law.
In a television interview last Tuesday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said he is against the proposal of some lawmakers to scrap the substitution.
He stressed the position of Comelec that the voluntary substitution is a “necessary remedy under the law.”
“What would perhaps be a better idea is if Congress were to introduce some controls, some sort of regulation because right now the law is pretty wide open,” Jimenez said.
The poll official issued the statement after several senators on Monday filed a bill which seeks to amend the provision of the Omnibus Election Code, which allows an aspiring candidate to withdraw his or her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) and be replaced with another candidate.
The aspiring candidate, who withdrew his or her COC, and the one to replace him or her must belong to the same political party.
The attempt to revise the Omnibus Election Code comes after several aspiring candidates in the 2022 elections admitted they are willing to give way to other candidates, who seemingly mocked the provision of the COC, which they filed.
Those who filed their COCs are required to have a bona fide intention of running in the elections.
The deadline for the voluntary substitution for aspiring candidates in the 2022 polls is on Nov. 15, 2021.
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