Comelec eyes earlier COC filing after 2025

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Monday that it is considering moving the period for filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) from October to July for elections after the upcoming 2025 polls.

In a press conference, Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said this is to give political aspirants more time to appeal cases before the Supreme Court (SC).

"Siguro nga maganda sa 2028 elections mas maaga ang filing ng candidacy. Siguro nga baka sa halip na October, pag-isipan na natin na July (Maybe it's better that, for the 2028 elections, we could move the COC filing earlier. Maybe instead of October, we could move it to July)," Garcia said.

"Tutal hindi pa naman sila kandidato diba? Kahit mag-file sila ng candidacy, sila ay kandidato lang sa unang araw ng campaign period (Because they are not yet candidates right? Even if they file their candidacies, they will only become candidates on the first day of the campaign period)," he explained.

Under the SC ruling in Penera vs Comelec, a person becomes a candidate only upon the start of the campaign period.

"Kung July mag-file, marami nang panahon kami para i-resolve ang kaso at mas mahaba na ang panahon din magpunta sa Korte Suprema yung mga hindi papalarin sa desisyon sa amin (If they file in July, we will have plenty of time to resolve the case and those who will not be lucky in our decision could have plenty of time to go to the SC)," Garcia added.

The High Court recently issued a decision favoring a nuisance candidate, causing a delay in the printing of official ballots.

On 14 January, the SC blocked Comelec's move to declare Subair Guinthum Mustapha a nuisance candidate and was later included in the list of senatorial candidates.

The ballot printing, which began on 6 January, did not include his name.

As a result, the poll body discarded six million ballots for the upcoming polls that did not include Mustapha's name, leading to a P132 million financial loss.