Cut your entourage, Comelec tells bets

THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) will limit the number of companions who can accompany the candidates when they file their certificates of candidacy (COCs) next week.

According to Comelec Chair Andres Bautista, the rule is that the candidates must each bring only three companions when they file their COCs from October 12 to 16.

As for the candidates’ other companions, particularly their supporters, he said the poll agency would set up a video wall outside the Palacio del Gobernador for them.

“The supporters do not need to go inside because they will be able to see the proceedings through the monitors that we will be putting up,” Bautista said during a briefing.

Asked whether the poll body could effectively enforce the rule, Bautista admitted that it would be “a challenge.”

He hoped that the Comelec could curb the enthusiasm of the politicians’ supporters, who usually came in droves when they filed their COCs.