Comelec to act on 'nuisance' bets on Dec. 21

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Davao Region is set to release the final list of candidates who can participate in the upcoming 2013 midterm elections on December 21.

Lawyer Marlon Casquejo, assistant regional director of Comelec-Davao, said Friday that the list without the names of the nuisance candidates will be final and executory and will be the one that will reflect on the actual ballots.

Casquejo said all election officers have a guideline on how to determine a serious candidate.

Based on Comelec Resolution 8678, a candidate can be considered a nuisance if he "put[s] the election process in mockery or disrepute; cause[s] confusion among the voters by the similarity of names of registered candidates; or one who has no bona fide intention to run for the office."

He said all election officers have the discretion to declare if a certain candidate is a nuisance, or not based on various points from the time he submitted his certificate of candidacy (COC).

"Malalaman natin yan sa December pa, sa ngayon wala pa kaming listahan ng mga (We will be able to know that by December, at present, we still don't have the list of) nuisance candidates)," Casquejo said.

In Davao City, especially for the mayoralty position, six candidates filed their COCs before the Comelec, including the incumbent Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

The remaining five are independent candidates with various backgrounds, and some of them have already run for the same and other positions in the past. (JOP)