Comelec urged to list disqualified bets with SC appeals on ballot
MANILA, Philippines — An election lawyer has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to include on the official ballots for the 2025 elections the names of disqualified candidates whose appeals are pending before the Supreme Court (SC).
In a statement on Sunday, lawyer Romulo Macalintal said that removing these names from the ballots could result in the destruction and reprinting of millions of ballots, costing “hundreds of millions of pesos.”
Macalintal noted that under Section 60 of Comelec Resolution No. 11045, political parties may substitute disqualified candidates with another member of the same surname until midday on election day
“To immediately delete the name of the disqualified candidate from the ballot will violate the right of the political party to substitute its disqualified candidate until election day and will render naught and meaningless the purpose of having a substitute with the same surname of the original candidate,” Macalintal argued.
He also said including the names of disqualified candidates with pending SC appeals would prevent ballot printing delays and reduce the risk of wasting Comelec funds.
“By including on the ballots all the names of other disqualified candidates with pending appeals in the SC, it will give an assurance that the printing of the official ballots will no longer be delayed and no further wastage of Comelec funds, even if the SC issues another set of TROs in other pending appeals of disqualified candidates,” he added.
Macalintal said this following Comelec’s recent suspension of ballot printing for the 2025 elections.
READ: Comelec suspends printing of ballots for 2025 polls
On Tuesday, January 14, the Comelec announced the suspension in response to the SC’s issuance of temporary restraining orders (TROs) on five cases related to the May polls.
READ: Supreme Court stops Comelec’s disqualification order vs 5 local bets
The poll body began printing ballots on January 6, with Comelec Chairman George Garcia saying that around 78 million ballots will be printed.
