Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Deadline of filing of COCs moved
THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has moved the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) to earlier dates, even as a Cebuano legislator filed a bill seeking to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
In a resolution dated Sept. 6, the dates for the filing of COC have been moved to Sept. 14 to Sept. 19 from the original schedule of Oct. 11 to 18.
But the schedule of the campaign period remains unchanged, from Oct. 19 to Oct. 27.
First time
The same resolution also allowed a candidate to name his preferred substitute in the event of death.
Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said this is the first time substitution is allowed because the general rule is there is no substitution for barangay and SK officials.
This is because barangay and SK elections are not partisan and no party can nominate the substitute of a candidate.
Section 9 of Resolution 8297 states that “there shall be no substation of candidates for barangay and SK officials, except in case of death of a candidate. For this purpose, the candidate shall indicate in his certificate of candidacy the names of the persons in order of preference, who shall take his place in the event of his death.”
Too costly
A candidate may name two preferred replacements.
The SK and barangay elections are set on Oct. 29.
But Rep. Eduardo Gullas (Cebu, 1st district) has filed a bill seeking the postponement of the synchronized polls.
Gullas said the synchronized elections are expected to cost the government some P2.8 billion to P3.3 billion. The money, he said, could be used for priority projects.
But Castillano has said that postponing the elections will mean more expenses as they have started spending for preparations. (MBG)
