The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is eyeing to come out with the official list of candidates for 2022 national and local polls next month.
In a press conference last Thursday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said it will still take them some time to finalize the list event after the deadline for the voluntary substitution of candidates on Nov. 15, 2021.
“There might still be pending motions in some of these cases. So we are expecting the final list of candidates in the middle of Dec. at the earliest,” Jimenez said.
By next month, Comelec expects to resolve most of the pending petitions for nuisance candidates as well as for the cancellation of the certificate of candidacy (COC).
As of last Wednesday, Comelec announced it will file motu propio petitions to declare 205 aspirants in the 2022 elections as nuisance candidates.
It also received 91 petitions for the cancellation of COC for some aspiring candidates.
Due to the ongoing novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic, Jimenez said most of the aspirants facing nuisance case from Comelec are expected to be resolved without any physical hearings.
“If necessary, the hearing commissioners may require some clarificatory questions to be asked. Then yes, they could actually call for a hearing,” Jimenez said.
Those who will be declared as nuisance candidates will be removed from the official list of candidates, but face no additional penalties.
Read full article on BusinessMirror
