MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has motu proprio (on its own) filed 95 petitions against possible nuisance candidates before its Law Department, its spokesperson said on Thursday.
“As of Thursday, 95 petitions were filed by the Comelec on its own or motu propio,” James Jimenez said in an interview.
He also reported that a total of 78 petitions to disqualify or deny due course or cancel Certificate of Candidacy (COC) have been filed by private individuals.
Jimenez noted that the process of hearing the petitions will start from raffling the case to the First or Second Division.
“After the raffle, the Division will issue summons calling the parties to a conference where they will be ordered to submit a position paper and after, to submit a memoranda to the ponente,” he said.
“Overall, at least 30 days for the case to be resolved but still depends on the complexity of the case, if there is a complex issue it may prolong the process,” the pohll body official added.
The Comelec may, motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a COC if it is shown that said the filing puts the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters.
Earlier, the poll body received a total of 68 disqualification petitions against national and local aspirants in the May 2019 mid-term polls.
A total of 152 COCs for senator were filed during the five-day filing period./Ferdinand Patinio (PNA)
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