LESS than a week after the closure of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) filing period, 130 candidates in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) are facing possible disqualification.
Data from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed that 130 petitions have been filed before the poll body, as of September 7, 2023.
The number includes 43 docketed petitions filed against barangay and youth bets.
Among the docketed cases are seven petitions to declare as nuisance candidates, 23 petitions to deny due course/cancel COCs, and 13 petitions to disqualify.
There are also 87 undocketed petitions filed, or those that have soft copies of the petitions but have no hard copies and no payment of filing fees yet.
They include six petitions to declare as nuisance candidates, 59 petitions to deny due course/cancel COCs, and 22 petitions to disqualify.
"We expect more to be filed," said Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco in a televised public briefing.
Under Comelec rules, petitions against a candidate may be filed up to five days after filing their COCs.
Last September 4, the Comelec officially closed the COC filing period for the BSKE nationwide.
There were a total of 1,414,487 COCs filed by barangay and youth candidates across the country. (HDT/SunStar Philippines)