WILL YOU see a person’s life and capabilities on a piece of paper? Of course not.
These are the words that Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez answered when asked if the admission of being a placeholder candidate could be grounds to become a nuisance candidate.
The Comelec will soon officially declare the official and nuisance candidates for the 2022 national elections. For official candidates, I guess, they will be the usual individuals vying for elective positions. They are the same names who will make it in the final list of candidates.
What does nuisance mean?
Generally, nuisance means a person, a thing, or circumstance causing inconvenience or annoyance. Thus, candidates may be a nuisance for the reason that they are irritants or burdens in the elections and to the nation.
Conversely, Section 69 of the Omnibus Election Code expressly provides that the Comelec “may motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy (COC) if it is shown that said COC has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the COC has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate.”
This provision shows that the law gives the Comelec the power to stop those who filed COCs “to put the election process in mockery” from running. And recently, the House of Representatives was on its third and final reading of House Bill (HB) No. 9557 that aims to protect the integrity of the electoral process and promote respect for it as an important facet of Philippine democracy by providing an efficient procedure for declaring a nuisance candidate.
Do nuisance candidates joke around and make fun of the lection process? Not necessarily.
Nuisance candidates are typically considered those who have no vision that is useful for the country. They are usually the individuals that have no resources to run a national campaign.
But actually, these candidates are ordinary people who are frustrated with the government because they are the ones who experience first-hand the struggles and anxiety that the latter is giving them, or us. They know the problems we are facing. They know how to address these and can give concrete solutions.
Having no money to spend for the elections does not make a candidate nuisance. Campaign overspending is prohibited under the Election Code. It is a regulation of campaign finance by imposing limit on campaign expenditures.
Hence, it’s the question of intent – which one cannot prove by just filing its COC.
We cannot underestimate these people owing to the fact that those who are in the position, if not all, have the machineries to buy votes and forget their promises after they are voted into office. The best will always be the ones whose track records prove that they know the best interest of the people, they are principled, and represent the entirety and not just a class./PN
