DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The Commission on Elections here is all set for the scheduled filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for the aspirants of the upcoming 2019 midterms election.
District 2 Election Officer IV, Jerry Mujal, said in an interview that the Comelec in the city is now 100 percent prepared to accept the applications.
The Comelec has installed two steps for the filing of candidacy that started today from 8 a.m to 5 p.m until October 17 this year.
Mujal said several representatives of different aspirants have already asked for a copy of the certificate of candidacy days before the scheduled filing.
“We are ready to accept the applications. In fact, we already have set up mechanisms for the filing” said Mujal.
The filing of COC of a candidate should be accomplished in five copies and has to be sworn in by any notary public or official who is authorized to administer an oath.
It has no filing fee but a P30 documentary stamp must be attached to the original copy of the COC.
But the election officer also asked the aspirants not to file at the last minute to avoid problems and complications citing circumstances during the registration of voters that came in droves at the last minute at the Comelec office.
Under issued guidelines in Section 18 of Comelec Resolution No. 10420, Comelec will only accept COC on the last day for aspirants until 5 p.m if he or she is in the premises of the office.
Section 18 stated that, if at 4:45 of the last day of filing the COC and there are persons intending to file their respective COCs and are already inside the designated queuing area, the Receiving Officer shall prepare a complete list of names of aspiring candidates inside the designated queuing area, shall be consecutively numbered and will announce the names in order as they are listed.
Mujal also asked the aspirants not to make the filing a circus for the campaign.
Aspirants from Davao City’s local political party, Hugpong sa Pagbabago announced the filing of their respective COC’s this Monday.
