COC filing
SOME quarters fear that national candidates in next year’s balloting will crowd the field office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Pasay City on Friday, October 1.
Unlike previous years, the filing of COCs of those seeking national positions will no longer be held at the Comelec central office in the “Walled City” of Intramuros in Manila.
Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body transferred the venue of COC filing to an outdoor tent of Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City due to the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to make sure that the filing of COCs does not generate into a crowded circus as it normally does,” said Jimenez during a webinar initiated by the US Embassy in Manila.
To avoid overcrowding, the Comelec also limited the number of aides or supporters accompanying a candidate filing his/her certificate of candidacy on Friday.
It is the first day of the weeklong (October 1-8) filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 9 automated national and local elections, according to the poll body.
The fear is valid since everybody agrees that there are politicians, including the so-called “nuisance candidates,” who want to go down in history as the first to file his or her COC.
“Kagaya ng mga nakaraang eleksyon, maraming maghahain ng COC sa unang araw kasi alam nilang fully-covered ito ng print at broadcast media,” a political observer said.
“Libreng publicity nga naman ito kaya asahan na ang pagdagsa ng mga maghahain ng COC sa Biyernes sa Sofitel Hotel,” according to the veteran lady political observer.
This is a sad reality in the Philippines, which is teeming with election-crazy people and an oversupply of political “butterflies,” “turncoats” or “balimbings.”
