MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has delayed anew the release of the final list of candidates for the 2019 midterm elections as they are still filtering all the aspirants that have submitted their certificate of candidacy (COC).
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez did not give a timeline on when will they release the final list of candidates as they encounter some challenges in determining who are legitimate candidates and who are nuisance.
“Nagkakaproblema pa tayo sa pagsasala ng ating mga kandidato, ‘yung senatorial candidates natin ngayon nasa 140 plus pa kasi hindi pa nga tapos ‘yung proseso sa iba sa kanila,” Jimenez said.
Jimenez added that it is important for the Comelec to carefully filter the list of candidates in order to ensure that only minimal corrections will be made before the Comelec starts printing its ballots.
“Maraming nai-strain na boto ‘pag ilalagay mo ang pangalan sa listahan tapos idi-disqualify mo rin pala,” the Comelec spokesperson said. “Kaya talagang sinasala namin ng maayos.”
Jimenez has also assured the voting public that the one week delay in the release of the list of candidates will not adversely affect the Commission’s schedule of activities for next year’s polls.
The Comelec has earlier announced that it will release the final list of candidates on Dec. 15 but was delayed anew to last week of December before being postponed anew.
There were a total of 78 disqualification cases filed against various politicians, with the most complicated one versus incumbent senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel, which was filed by lawyer Ferdinand Topacio.
Another notable impeachment complaint was filed by opposition senatorial candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas against a certain Lemicio Jesus Roxas, whom the losing Presidential candidate said will only confuse the voters./PN
