Comelec ready to publish names of party-list nominees on Oct 23

FILE PHOTO: Commission on Elections Chairperson George Garcia. INQUIRER / NINO JESUS ORBETA

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will publish the names of party-list nominees on its website on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.

According to Comelec Chairman George Garcia, they did not immediately publish the list because they had to reduce information that may be subject to violation of data privacy.

“We reduced the information from each of the 44,000 candidates because we think that data privacy might be violated if we did not remove them,” Garcia said in Filipino during an ambush interview on Tuesday.

Garcia also said that the poll body will only make information available to the public under what is stated on the contents of certificate of candidacy (COC) under Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code that includes the residence, political party to which they belong, civil status, birthdate, post office address for election purposes, and profession or occupation.

Garcia previously said that Comelec will publish the COCs and certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONAs) for the 2025 polls for the first time to prevent another case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who sought and won a mayoral seat despite having alleged false information stated in her birth certificate.

READ: After Alice Guo mess, Comelec to publish COCs, Conas for the first time

The poll body chief also said the COCs will be published on Comelec’s website next week.

Meanwhile, Garcia said that a petition to cancel a CONA may be done five days after the list was published. The chairman reminded that a registered voter can file the petition as an exercise of power and right to question the candidacy.

“That is the only way because the Comelec has no power of motu proprio or canceling a nomination of a nominee on our own. That is not allowed for us. We need a registered voter to question them,” Garcia added in a mix of Filipino and English.

READ: Comelec releases list of 156 party-list groups vying for House seats

Garcia explained that the grounds to file a petition includes not being a part of the sector the party-list is representing, not being a true Filipino citizen or a Philippine resident, if there is a conviction by final judgment of a crime committed, of if there is a decision to perpetually disqualify to hold public office.

Last Friday, the Comelec determined the numerical arrangement of 156 party-lists through an electronic raffle.