The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Thursday said it accepted the certificate of candidacy (COC) for president of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte amid issues on the legality of his substitution move as the standard-bearer of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the 2016 elections.
Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said the poll body ruled to accept Duterte’s COC in a 6-1 vote, adding that the tough-talking mayor had been added to the official list of candidates.
However, Bautista noted that the resolution was “entirely without prejudice” to the disqualification case filed by broadcaster Ruben Castor against Duterte, or any other case against him.
Bautista said Comelec accepted Duterte’s COC from an administrative point of view and as a ministerial process. However, he added that an adverse decision from the poll body’s 1st division on Castor’s petition could still disqualify the mayor from the presidential derby.
READ: Duterte-Diño still awaits Comelec ruling
Castor sought not to give due course to Duterte’s substitution of Martin Diño because of a supposedly erroneous entry in the latter’s COC, making it “void, legally inexistent, and without legal effect.”
Diño, who later withdrew his candidacy for president, indicated in his COC that he was running for Pasay City mayor.
READ: Duterte lawyer sees dismissal of DQ case
The Comelec’s 1st division was supposed to hold a hearing Tuesday on the disqualification case filed by Castor against Duterte and Diño, but the petitioner and his counsel did not appear in the hearing where the marking of evidence was supposed to be conducted, which prompted Duterte’s camp to submit the petition for resolution.
READ: Petitioner in DQ case vs Duterte no-show in hearing
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