Seniors 65 and up may personally file COC for 2022 polls

File photo shows the Comelec desk for COC filing on Friday, Oct. 12, 2018. (Photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Senior citizens aged 65 and up who are planning to run in the 2022 national elections will be allowed to go out of their residences to personally file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, Malacañang announced Friday. 

 Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allowed Filipinos 65 years old and up to go to the Commission on Elections’s (Comelec) national offices and designated field offices.

 They will be recognized as authorized persons outside of residence for the COC filing period regardless of the community quarantine classification in their areas and their vaccination status.

At present, persons aged 65 and up are barred from going out of their residences as they are considered vulnerable to COVID-19.

Only senior citizens in general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified GCQ who are fully vaccinated are allowed to go out.

 gsg