WITH just over 100 days left before the May 13 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is finally set to release Saturday, January 26, the list of candidates whose names will be printed on the official ballots.
Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the list might include 77 senatorial candidates and 134 party-list organizations.
“You have 77 potential senatorial candidates and we might be down to 134 party-lists,” said Jimenez in an interview.
Of the 77, 14 are still awaiting the finality of the decisions on their disqualification cases.
“There are 14 names that are still pending. These 14 names are those that can be removed or those that can be retained,” Jimenez explained.
“These (14) cases have already been resolved. We are just waiting for their finality, which means it is either they will still appeal or not anymore,” he added.
He said they expect the list to be revealed either on late Friday or on Saturday.
“We will work on this double time. More likely, it will be tomorrow (Saturday), including the party-lists,” said Jimenez.
To recall, a total of 152 filed their Certificates of Candidacy for senator while 182 party-list groups submitted their Manifestations of Intent to Participate and their list of nominees.
The Comelec earlier said it will release the final list of candidates by December 15 last year.
The poll body, however, failed to meet its self-imposed deadline because of pending disqualification cases filed against several aspirants.
With the release of the final list of candidates, the Comelec is expected to commence with the ballot printing, which was originally set for the third week of January. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)