The Commission on Elections led by chairman George Garcia along with the Manila government remove illegally placed campaign materials along Oraquieta cor. Recto Avenue on October 20, 2023, a day after the start of the campaign period for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News/File

SEOUL, South Korea - By November, all nuisance candidates and others posing as "place holder" wannabes for the 2025 elections, will be removed from the list, Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia said Tuesday.

Interviewed after visiting the Miru Systems Co. Ltd.’s facilities in South Korea, Garcia assures quick action of the Comelec en banc on this issue.

"Definitely lahat ng disqualification cases ngayon, lalong-lalo na ang nuisance candidacies, pagka ikaw ay nanggugulo lang o ikaw ay panggulo lang, ire-resolve namin yan bago matapos ang Nobyembre ng taon na ito," Garcia told journalists.

(Definitely, all disqualification cases, especially on nuisance candidates will be resolved before the end of November.)

"Lalahatin po natin sa national at sa local," he added.

(We will resolve all national and local.)

READ: Goodbye 'placeholders'? Comelec drops separate substitution period for candidates

Garcia said candidates who just file their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to confuse voters due to similar names with other aspirant, or those hired to run in exchange of money, will be removed before the allots are printed.

Nuisance candidates often disappear after filing the COC, he noted.

Garcia, a veteran election lawyer, also expressed his concern about the "massive use of public funds," during election period.

"Yan din ang gustong pigilan ng Comelec, na nagagamit yung state resources upang i-finance ang kampanya ng ilang kandidato," Garcia said.

(The Comelec also wants to stop the use of State resources in funding the campaign of a candidate.)

The Comelec filed cases against  candidates allegedly using government resources for their campaign. The Commission can easily check if candidates misused state resources in Statement Contributions and Expenditures (SOCE)  and can investigate these cases on its own authority.

However, Garcia stressed such investigations often begin with reports from concerned citizens or groups about questionable deeds.

"Kinakailangan na medyo may nagre-report din sa atin sapagkat alam natin, sanitized na yan (SOCE), nalinis na yung SOCE na sina-submit sa Comelec,” Garcia underlined.

"Kinakailangan may magre-report sa amin, na hindi naman yan ang tunay na nagbigay eh, may nagbigay dyan ng ganito eh. Bakit nya pinalalabas na yan ang binigay, eh ito ang binigay ko eh," he mentioned as examples.

Garcia mentioned the development of a dedicated website to display all submitted SOCEs of winning and losing candidates for public scrutiny, empowering citizens to report false submissions without needing Comelec’s permission.

"Diyan po mai-empower natin ang ating mga kababayan, para mai-report sa amin na mali yung sinubmit (submit) nilang SOCE... ibig sabihin po, hindi na kayo kinakailangan pang humingi sa Comelec ng permiso at mahabang proseso pa, bago maglabas ang Comelec ng SOCE. Ito po'y public documents," Garcia said.

(We will empower our countrymen so they can report about those falsely submitted SOCE. You do not have to ask for Comelec’s permission because this is a public document.)

"Yun pong pagpa-file ng SOCE at imbestigasyon sa SOCE, yan po ay motu propio ng Komisyon. Hindi po namin kakailanganin na may mag-file ng disqualification, may file ng investigation," he added.

(The Comelec has the motu propio power to investigate SOCE. We do not need someone to file a disqualification (case), for us to investigate)

Garcia cited over 400 disqualification cases filed in 2023 for campaign overspending as porrf of their efforts.

Candidates misdeclaring their SOCEs can face charges of perjury and election offenses.

READ: Comelec blasts politicians who refused to change 'decades-old' campaign photos

READ: Comelec eyes allowing only current photos on candidates' campaign materials

HOW ABOUT DIRTY MONEY?

Garcia assured the public that the Comelec will prevent questionable funds, including those from "POGO politics” and other illegal sources, from influencing elections.

"Hindi lamang POGO politics ang ating kinatatakutan, yung narco-politics eversince andyan yan, at kasama rin yung gambling politics," Garcia said.

(Not only on POGO politics that we are fearing now but even narco-politics and gambling politics.)

The Comelec will seek help from other government sector, to block these funds.

‘NO TO FUGITIVE CANDIDATES’

Candidates with pending cases can still run for office unless they have a final judgment against them. However, those filing their COC as "fugitives" from October 1 to 8 face  problems, Garcia noted.

"Pu-pwede po kasi sa atin ang mag-file ng Certificate of Candidacy kahit hindi personal. Pwede po by Special Power pf Attorney. Kakailanganin mo lang tanungin, papano ka nakapagpa-SPA kung ikaw eh nagtatago nga. So, pati yung lawyer na nagbigay ng SPA pu-pwedeng makasuhan. Lalong-lalo na yung nag-notaryo. Paano na-notaryo kung nagtatago nga," Garcia pointed out.

(A Certificate of Candidacy can be filed by an aspirant even if he is not present. That can be done through a Special Power of Attorney. But all we need is to ask the lawyer, how can the fugitive candidate issued that SPA. Even the one who notarized that SPA can also be charged.)

"Pagka po ang isang tao ay fugitive from justice... pagka pinaghahanap ng batas, dahil nakasuhan, biglang nagtago. Na-convict, biglang nagtago, hindi po nagse-serve ng sentensya nya. Yan po ay ground kaagad ng disqualification," the Comelec chief added.

(Being a fugitive candidate is a ground for immediate disqualification)

The Comelec will still accept a fugitive's COC but will immediately subject it to a hearing, Garcia said.

READ: Comelec bets on outreach, online ballots to boost overseas voters’ numbers

RELATED VIDEO: