Commission on Elections Chairperson George Erwin Garcia (Noy Morcoso/ Inquirer.net file photo)
MANILA, Philippines — The substitution of candidates after the last day of filing of certificates of candidacies (COC) will no longer be allowed if the substitution is due to the candidate’s withdrawal, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday.
Garcia said the Commission En Banc approved his proposal to ban substitution after the last day of filing COCs on grounds of withdrawal from candidacy.
“Unanimous po, pumayag ang ating Commission En Banc sa naging proposal ng inyong lingkod na wala nang substitution after ng last day ng filing ng candidacy, which is October 8, kung ang ground ay withdrawal ng candidacy,” Garcia said in an ambush interview.
(Unanimously, the Commission En Banc agreed with my proposal that there would be no substitution after the last day of filing of candidacy, which is October 8, if the reason is the withdrawal of candidacy.)
The filing of COCs for the May 2025 midterm elections is scheduled from October 1 to 8, 2024.
“‘Yung mga kandidato, lay your cards on the table. ‘Yung mga kandidato, sabihin niyo na, harapin niyo na kayo ang kandidato at wala na tayong palitan…Kung nagnanais ka talagang magbigay ng iyong serbisyo sa publiko, hindi po ba mas maganda kung talagang desidido ka,” Garcia said.
(Candidates, lay your cards on the table. Candidates, declare that you are the candidate, and there will be no more substitutions. If you truly wish to serve the public, wouldn’t it be better if you were truly determined?)
Garcia, however, stressed that substitution after filing the COC would still be allowed if the candidate died or was disqualified.
The substitute candidate must share the same family name or belong to the same political party as the deceased or disqualified candidate, Garcia added.