THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is considering moving the filing date of certificates of candidacy (COCs) to an earlier date to give political aspirants more time to appeal their poll cases before the Supreme Court (SC) and to avoid suspending the printing of ballots and other election preparations.
Meanwhile, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) deployed a quick response operation for an independent probe of separate killings of politicians and electoral candidates, and help deliver justice for the victims and their families.
Comelec chairman George Garcia on Monday said the plan is to move the filing of COCs from October to July aims to provide candidates more time to file their appeal before the high court.
The filing of COCs was usually held in October, Garcia said.
“We thought that perhaps, in the next 2028 elections, we could have an earlier filing of candidacy,” Garcia said.
He explained that moving the COC filing to an earlier date would also give the Comelec en banc more time to decide on election cases by August or September.
“At least the candidates have September, October, November, and December to go to the Supreme Court,” Garcia said.
The poll body suspended the printing of ballots for the May elections to give way to the inclusion of the names of five local candidates disqualified earlier by the Comelec, but ordered reinstated by the Supreme Court.
Because of the SC order, at least six million ballots were discarded for the upcoming midterm polls, leading to a P132-million financial loss, the Comelec said.
In another development, the CHR said it is looking at the reported killings of politicians and electoral candidates to determine whether they were politically motivated.
“It is deeply alarming that despite efforts by the government and law enforcement agencies to foster peace ahead of the elections, a culture of violence persists, normalizing killings and other forms of harassment as part of our reality,” the Commission added.
It also raised deep concern over reports of election officers being attacked and killed.
“We must recognize the crucial role that they play in ensuring a fair, transparent, and impartial elections. After all, they are foundational to the upkeep of every Filipino’s right to suffrage, a safe environment and political participation during the polls,” the CHR said.
“The urgent need to curb the culture of impunity and violence cannot be overemphasized. We stress that no one should be arbitrarily deprived of life without just cause and due process of the law. This act of violence also causes immense harm and fear not only to the victims’ families, but also to their communities.”
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “CHR probes killings of political candidates, election officers.”