Comelec resolves all nuisance bets‘ cases, a ‘historic first’ – Garcia

REVIEW Commission on Elections employees scrutinize the election documents from the regions at the head office in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (PNA file photo by YANCY LIM)

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has announced that all cases of nuisance candidates for local and national posts have already been resolved.

Garcia said the Comelec has already decided on all of the issues involving 114 nuisance candidates as of Friday, Dec. 27.

Of the 114 petitions for qualification, 84 were granted while 30 were denied, according to a document obtained by INQUIRER.net.

“A historic first,” Garcia said of the Comelec’s move in a Viber message on Saturday.

He recalled that in previous elections, nuisance candidates were included in the ballots because their cases were not resolved even at the Comelec division level.

The most notable incident about this occurred in 2022 which led to the Comelec invalidating the victory of then-incumbent Negros Oriental Governor Henry Teves.

This instance happened after the poll body credited the votes obtained by nuisance candidate Ruel Degamo to defeat gubernatorial candidate Roel Degamo.

Roel Degamo, along with eight provincial staff members and constituents, were killed while 16 others, including three provincial officials, were wounded in a gun attack in the governor’s residence in Pamplona town on March 4, 2023.

The Comelec can act on the cases of nuisance candidates in local positions only when a petition has been filed, unlike in national positions where the poll body can act motu propio or on its own initiative.

The Comelec has also disqualified 117 senatorial aspirants for being nuisances.

In line with the Omnibus Election Code, the Comelec declares a political aspirant a nuisance if he or she filed a Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) to make a mockery of the elections, cause confusion among voters by having similarity of names, and demonstrate the lack of a bona fide intention to run for office.

More than 44,000 aspirants filed their CoCs for local and national posts for the 2025 midterm polls nationwide.