THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) Task Force Baklas has filed disqualification cases against 24 candidates in the 2025 national and local elections (NLE) for failing to follow protocols on the proper posting of campaign materials, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
"Among those charged before the Comelec’s legal department were Valenzuela Second District Representative Eric Martinez, who is running for senator; Jose Cortes Daluz III, who is seeking reelection as Cebu City vice mayor; and Bulacan gubernatorial aspirants Salvador “Bogs” Violago and Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado.
It also includes local candidates from the National Capital Region, as well as the provinces of Rizal, Pampanga, and Bulacan.
Garcia said these candidates refused to heed the repeated call of the agency to remove their illegally posted campaign materials.
He said the task force will work double time to issue an order preventing the proclamation of these candidates in the event that they win.
“Basta po may merit ang kaso, basta mabigat ang ebidensya, hindi po namin ipo-proclaim ang mga kandidato na humaharap sa disqualification cases sa amin upang hindi po kami mawalan ng jurisdiction,” said Garcia.
(As long as the case has merit and the evidence is strong, we will not proclaim candidates facing disqualification cases before us, so as not to lose jurisdiction over them.)
“Nasa kapangyarihan naman ng Comelec ang pag-determine. Kapag nag-proclaim kami (ng kandidato), mawawalan kami ng jurisdiction over the candidate. Napupunta po ang jurisdiction sa electoral tribunal,” he added.
(It is within the Comelec’s authority to make that determination. Once we proclaim a candidate, we lose jurisdiction over them, and the authority is transferred to the electoral tribunal.)
Meanwhile, Garcia said they also received around 300 petitions for disqualification of vote-buying allegations.
(Meanwhile, Garcia said they have also received around 300 disqualification petitions related to vote-buying allegations.)
He assured that the agency is carefully looking over each complaint for proper disposition. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)