House OKs tighter rules on candidate substitution on 2nd reading

Former President Rodrigo Duterte (L) and Vice President Sara Duterte | PHOTOS: Official Facebook pages of Rody Duterte and Inday Sara Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to place stricter rules on substitution of candidates has been approved on second reading at the House of Representatives.

During the plenary session on Tuesday, House Bill (HB) No. 10524 was approved via voice voting.

HB No. 10524 — a consolidation of HB Nos. 437, 5692, 8794, 9069, and 10186 — seeks to amend Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines by allowing substitution only if a person who has filed his or her certificate of candidacy (COC) became permanently incapacitated.

The bill aims to remove the withdrawal of COC as grounds for substitution.

If the bill is signed into law, Section 77 will read as: “If after the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy, an official candidate of a registered or accredited political party dies, BECOMES PERMANENTLY INCAPACITATED, or is disqualified for any cause, only a person belonging to, and certified by, the same political party may file a certificate of candidacy replace the candidate who died, BECAME PERMANENTLY  INCAPACITATED, or was disqualified.”

The capitalized words convey the proposed amendments.

The subsequent sentence would now read as: “The substitute candidate nominated by the political party concerned may file THE certificate of candidacy for the office affected in accordance with the preceding sections not later than mid-day of the day of the election. If the death, PERMANENT INCAPACITY, or disqualification should occur between the day before the election and mid-day of election day, said certificate may be filed with any ELECTORAL BOARD in the political subdivision where ONE is a candidate, or, in the case of candidates to be voted for by the entire electorate of the country, with the Commission.”

This is not the first time that bills seeking stricter rules on substitution were filed in Congress. In October 2021, bills on the matter were filed in the House and the Senate as lawmakers felt that politicians had abused the substitution provision.

READ: Senators to file bill removing withdrawal as ground for candidate substitution

READ: Bill prohibiting candidate substitution due to withdrawal filed

In 2015, then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte heeded the public’s call for him to run for president in the 2016 polls, substituting for fellow PDP-Laban member Martin Diño.

Issues hounded the substitution as Diño indicated in his COC that he was running for Pasay City’s mayoral post. Duterte, however, won the presidency in the 2016 polls.

READ: It’s official, Duterte now a candidate for president — Comelec

In November 2021, Duterte’s daughter, then Davao City mayor Sara Duterte, filed her COC as vice president, substituting for Lakas-CMD’s Lyle Uy. Lawyer Reynold Munsayac filed her COC two days before the deadline for the substitution of candidates on Nov. 15, 2021.

READ: Sara Duterte files COC for vice president under Lakas-CMD

If the current version of HB No. 10524 is maintained, both substitution schemes used by former president Duterte and Vice President Duterte would no longer be allowed.