Comelec to study online filings for 2022

Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo. INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO/CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it would study the possibility of allowing the online filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2022 elections.

During a hearing of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, Comelec Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said the law does not allow candidates to file their COC online, citing that it must be done personally or through a representative.

Casquejo was referring to Republic Act No. 7166, which states that “no certificate of candidacy shall be filed by mail, telegram or facsimile.”

But Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez said such provision could be “waived by the Comelec in the interest of public service” because the country is still in a pandemic.

No final guidelines yet

“I’m going to file already, by tomorrow, a bill that will say personal or online,” Rodriguez said, referring to the filing of COC.

“It needs to be online. Come up with a rule that filing will be online and let us see who will question that,” he told the Comelec.

In the same hearing, Casquejo said the Comelec had not yet decided on its final guidelines for the 2022 presidential elections, particularly on campaigning.

“We cannot prohibit the rally but we can regulate it. But I think what we can prohibit is face-to-face or the house-to-house campaigning,” he said. INQ