Filing of COCs
IT’S exactly 62 days before the start of the eight-day filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the May 9, 2022 presidential, congressional, regional and local elections.
And details of emerging political alliances being worked out by party leaders are starting to become clear as the much-awaited October 1-8 filing of COCs approaches.
In this Southeast Asian nation of election-crazy people, elections are held every three years, with the President, Vice President and Senators holding office for six years.
Under the Constitution, members of the House of Representatives – district and party-list congressmen – and other local government officials have a three-year term of office.
Moneyed and influential local politicians, particularly in the impoverished countryside, start helping the sick, the poor and jobless residents even before the filing of COCs.
In fact, that’s exactly what’s happening now in many barangays where prospective local candidates go around town with noisy “alalays” giving “pang-kape” to residents.
Without doubt, this is lamentable, disgusting and revolting to the senses, but this is a sad reality during an election, which is “democracy in action,” in the Philippines.
Of course, the view of many is that there’s now that urgent need to educate the electorate on the evils of vote-buying and vote-selling during political exercises.
