OUR very own Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has thrown his hat into the ring, according to news reports. He has declared that he will run for President. However, there are some issues now surrounding his presidential bid, the largest of which seems to be his failure to file a certificate of candidacy (COC) for the position.
You will recall that Mayor Duterte did not file his own certificate of candidacy (COC) for President. However, a certain Martin Diño filed a COC for president under the PDP-Laban party, which is the same political party of the Mayor. Diño’s COC seems to be the most visible option left for the mayor to run for President via substitution of Mr. Diño.
An added complication though is that the Law Department of the Comelec has sent notice to Mr. Diño to show cause as to why he should not be declared a nuisance candidate. As a result, Mr. Diño chose to withdraw his candidacy, and according to some reports, listed Mayor Duterte as his substitute.
As a result of these circumstances, there are those who question if substitution can still be done by the Mayor. Others ask if Mayor can still run for President.
There are differing legal opinions at this point.
Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal is of the opinion that the Mayor cannot run as a substitute of Mr. Diño because the COC filed by Mr. Diño was defective. It was reported in the news that Mr. Diño’s COC was for Mayor of Pasay City, rather than for President of the Philippines. Lawyer Macalintal further claims that if Mr. Diño is indeed considered a nuisance candidate, and his COC cancelled as a result, it would be as if no such COC was filed, and as such there is no one to substitute.
Former Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes however, has a different opinion. Chairman Brillantes stated in a news report that “the grounds in fielding a substitute are death, disqualification and withdrawal. Diño withdrew so he can be replaced. Why will the party be made to suffer? They nominated one candidate and he withdrew, so why can’t the party replace him?”
Which opinion is correct?
I would side with Chairman Brillantes. For one, he is the former Chairman of the Comelec, so his opinion should be given great weight on this election related issue. Moreover, his interpretation of the law focuses on a more substantive aspect of the law rather than an overly technical one. If the law provides that a ground for substitution of a candidate is withdrawal, then the Mr. Diño can indeed be substituted upon his withdrawal.
What about the issue of the COC stating that Mr. Diño was running for Mayor of Pasay City? It should be noted that, according to news reports, Mr. Diño filed the COC with the Comelec main office. The Comelec main office is designated to only accept COCs for national positions, not local ones such as Mayor of Pasay City.
If Mr. Diño had indeed intended to run for Mayor of Pasay, he should have gone to the Pasay City Office of the Comelec. This fact indicates that Mr. Diño did not intend to run for Mayor. Moreover, the Comelec itself listed Mr. Diño as a candidate for President.
All told, it seems that the Comelec itself has acknowledged that Mr. Diño was PDP-Laban’s candidate for President.
Furthermore, it would seem that the COC for Mayor of Pasig City is only a mere clerical error or a minor technical issue. In news reports, PDP Laban President, Senator Aquino Pimental III has explained that the COC was only a mere clerical error and that it should not affect PDP-Laban’s candidate for the President.
Senator Pimental further explained that Mr. Diño’s certificate of nomination from PDP-Laban was for the president.
Besides, minor technical procedures or issues, or even clerical errors, should not deprive us of a presidential candidate. As such, I myself strongly believe that Mayor Duterte can substitute Mr. Diño to run as President under PDP-Laban.
Of course, the Comelec, and even the Supreme Court may have a different point of view on this issue. But they should not deprive the people of options. After all, the Comelec in particular has been very liberal in allowing people to run for high government positions. In the past, they allowed former President Erap Estrada to run for president, even after his conviction for plunder and his pardon. Taken in that context then, I do not see why the Mayor, who is only dealing with minor technical issues, should not be allowed to run.
And besides, and this is one point which seems to have missed the media’s attention -- there is no law or rule stopping any other political party to absorb Mayor Duterte and have him run as President as a substitute under the banner of that party. In short, Mayor Duterte still has many other options available to him.
So what is the answer to the question: Can Mayor Duterte still run for president? My answer, echoed by many of his supporters across the country is...
YES.
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The opinions expressed herein are solely of Atty. Lee. This column does not constitute legal advice nor does it create a lawyer-client relationship with any party. You can reach Kelvin through his office at tcplawfirm.staff@gmail.com.