MANILA - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) closed the period of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) on schedule Wednesday, with 152 senatorial hopefuls and 185 party-list bets formalizing their respective bids for the 2019 midterm elections.

The gates of the Palacio del Gobernador were closed at exactly 5 p.m., but it took poll officials about half an hour before all party-list election documents were received and processed.

One party-list candidate managed to enter the building before the 5 p.m. deadline, but his documents were left outside, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said.

The Comelec eventually agreed to accept his documents since he was already inside the building, he said.

The poll body is expected to release the final list of candidates in December, a month before the scheduled printing of ballots, Jimenez said.

The period of filing COCs began on Oct. 11.

In 2016, the Comelec received 172 COCs for senator, but only 50 were recognized as official candidates, Comelec Education Department Director Frances Arabe told ABS-CBN News.

Of the 213 party-lists that submitted their election documents in that year, only 115 groups were included in the ballots, she said.