AT LEAST 1,000 potential winners in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will not be proclaimed by the Commission on Elections as they face disqualification for being too old or for not being registered voters, an official said Monday.
Comelec acting chairman Al Parreño said the 1,000 were part of the 4,000 candidates facing disqualification in the SK polls because most of them were more than 24 years old.
“We are suspending around 1,000 cases as of today. The public should not be surprised if there are people whose proclamation we will suspend,” Parreño said hours before the manual voting closed.
The Comelec is also investigating cases of alleged violations of the anti-political dynasty provision of the SK Reform Act by some candidates, an official said.
Comelec Commissioner Luie Guia said the SK candidates who violated the provision will be removed from office even after being proclaimed as winners in this year’s elections.
Parreño said that, from the 4,000 cases they had received, they found that the majority of the SK bets violated the age limit or were non-registered voters in the areas where they were running.
For the barangay elections, on the other hand, Parreño said some of the candidates for barangay captain and kagawad ran for election in the areas where they were not registered voters.
Guia said they planned to resolve all disqualification cases by June 30.
“We are hoping we can resolve all of these cases by June 30 so that the succession will be smooth,” he said.
When asked who would be proclaimed in lieu of the disqualified winning bets, Interior Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said it would vary.
“Let us take it on a case-to-case basis,” Malaya said.
Guia said aside from the cancellation of one’s Certificate of Candidacy, there was a procedure of succession for the winning candidates who were disqualified.
“The only way we can handle that is to file a formal procedure for cancellation of their Certificate of Candidacy,” he said.
The second candidate who garnered the most number of votes would be the one to succeed the disqualified winning bet.