Comelec gets stricter: No more ‘placeholder’ ploys

Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia —Inquirer file photo/Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — For the 2025 midterm elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has banned the substitution of poll aspirants who withdraw from the race at the last minute to open a spot for reserve candidates.

In an interview with reporters, Comelec Chair George Erwin Garcia said the poll body approved during Wednesday’s en banc session a resolution disallowing substitutions beyond the designated period for filing certificates of candidacies (COCs).

“It was unanimous. Our commission en banc agreed to our proposal that there would be no more substitutions after the last day of the filing of candidacy, which is Oct. 8 [2024], if the ground is withdrawal of candidacy,” Garcia said.

The official said substitutions during the Oct. 1 to Oct. 8 COC filing period may still be allowed.

READ: Comelec nears target of 3 million new voters for 2025

After this filing period and all the way up to Election Day, substitutions will still be allowed if the candidate has died or is disqualified with finality, and only if the substitute has the same surname and belongs to the same political party as that of the deceased or disqualified candidate.

Asked about the rationale, Garcia said: “This is so that the people will not be deceived. If you really want to render service to the public, isn’t it better, if you’re really decided, for you to disclose it quickly [and] file your candidacy already.”

“To the candidates, lay your cards on the table. To the candidates, say it already, face [the people and tell them] that you are the candidate and we have no more substitution,” Garcia said.

The most famous example was former President Rodrigo Duterte, who, in November 2015, took the place of his Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan party mate Martin Diño, who had admitted to being a placeholder for Duterte.

The then Davao mayor went on to win the 2016 presidential elections. Diño, who served the Duterte administration as an interior undersecretary, died in August last year.

In the 2022 elections, Duterte’s daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, followed in his footsteps by filling in for another placeholder, Lyle Fernando Uy of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats.

Other politicians took a similar path to becoming candidates.

Among the presidential candidates in 2022 who withdrew their COCs and were substituted were Grepor Belgica of the Pederalismo ng Dugong Dakilang Samahan, who was replaced by Sen. Christopher Go, and Antonio Valdes of Katipunan ng Demokratikong Pilipino, who was replaced by retired Army Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.

Bills for permanent ban

Go eventually backed out of the race while Parlade was disqualified.

Bills had been filed in Congress seeking to ban the practice of substitution by withdrawal, as critics described it as a loophole being used by politicians to stir up drama about their candidacies.

The Comelec’s new resolution, however, covers only next year’s elections, as legislation is needed to amend the Omnibus Election Code, which is silent on substitution by withdrawal.

While the law explicitly allows substitution during the filing period, it does not mention substitution for reasons other than death or disqualification after the filing period, according to the Comelec chief.

Garcia said the prohibition on substitution would also speed up the printing of ballots, as the poll body was targeting a December release of the final list of candidates. It also hopes to resolve all petitions against nuisance candidates by November.

The resolution on the prohibition against substitution through withdrawal will be issued next week and added to the revised calendar of activities for the 2025 polls, he said.

In a media interview in Guimaras early this month, Garcia said he himself planned to propose the ban on substitutions by withdrawal, as politicians should not allow themselves to be mere placeholders.

“Let us not deceive the nation. Whoever is the candidate, he should be open about it, file your [COCs]. Don’t be a front for someone who is, all along, the one who will be running,” he said.

Internet voting

Meanwhile, Garcia defended the Comelec’s decision to allow overseas absentee voters to cast ballots online, saying it was more economical and would improve voter turnout.

“We weighed all the implications, all the scenarios, and we really have to continue with our internet voting because our resolution that allowed [it[, even if it’s not in the law, was not questioned by any one before the Supreme Court, we have not received any restraining order and we have already begun our procurement,” he said.

“We think the consequences will be graver if we deliberately discontinue internet voting which our countrymen abroad, at present, are expecting,” he added.

“Through internet voting, our hope is that expenses will be lower and at the same time the number of registered voters, and our countrymen who will actually vote, will increase,” Garcia added.

He noted that current modes of overseas absentee voting—by mail or in person at Philippine diplomatic posts acting as voting precincts—would cost the Comelec nearly half a billion pesos.