Comelec eyes earlier COC filing for more time to appeal cases

MANILA, Philippines — To give political aspirants more time to appeal their poll cases before the Supreme Court (SC), Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Monday that he is considering moving the certificate of candidacy (COC) filing to an earlier date.

In previous automated elections, the COC filing was held in October, but Garcia wants to move it to July.

“We thought that perhaps, in the next 2028 elections, we could have an earlier filing of candidacy,” Garcia said during the sidelines of a trusted build for the automated counting machines at Palacio del Gobernador in Manila.

READ: Comelec to recycle unusable ballot papers for 2025 polls 

If the COC filing is moved to July, Garcia explained that the Comelec en banc could decide on election cases by August or September.

“At least the candidates have September, October, November, and December to go to the Supreme Court,” Garcia said.

The Comelec typically begins printing ballots in January.

By this time, the poll body would have already removed all nuisance candidates for national positions, but they could still appeal the cancellation of their COC to the SC.

Recently, an SC decision favoring a nuisance candidate delayed the printing process of ballots. On Jan. 14, the SC blocked Comelec’s move to declare Senate hopeful Subair Guinthum Mustapha a nuisance candidate.

Mustapha was later included in the list of senatorial candidates, even though the ballot printing, which began on Jan. 6, did not include his name.

READ: Comelec begins printing of ballots for 2025 polls 

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