News Briefs: Dec. 19, 2018
Comelec’s final list of Senate candidates released this week
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it expected to come out with the final list of candidates for next year’s midterm elections later this week.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said only a few issues and petitions remained unresolved, including the Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (Cona) of several candidates.
“If you already submitted a Cona and then you had yourself substituted by another candidate whose Cona was invalidated, there is a consequence. All of a sudden, you become an independent [candidate]. You have no right to be substituted. So your substitute will have to be taken out from the list as well,” Jimenez said.
In a previous interview, Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said they expected the number of nuisance candidates to “be close” to the figures in the 2016 elections, wherein only 50 out of the 172 filers of certificates of candidacy (COC) made it to the final list.
A total of 152 COCs for senator were filed for the May 2019 polls. —Tina G. Santos
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SC pays P1B for site of new court complex in Fort Bonifacio
The Supreme Court on Tuesday paid P1 billion for a prime Taguig City property where the new Supreme Court complex would be built.
Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin signed the deed of sale with Bases Conversion Development Authority president Vivencio Dizon and handed to him a check for P1,044,021,642 representing the full payment for a 21,463 square-meter property at Fort Bonifacio.
“We are a step closer to finally realizing our common dream to have a place we can call our own,” Bersamin said.
Construction of the complex will start soon, he said.
The Supreme Court building in Padre Faura, Manila, is owned by the University of the Philippines.
Bersamin and Dizon also signed an agreement with Public Works Secretary Mark Villar and Megaworld senior vice president Kevin Andrew Tan for the construction of access roads to C5 and Campus Avenue in the McKinley Area, respectively. —Dona Z. Pazzibugan
