MANILA, Philippines — The law department of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already been consulted regarding the suggestion of Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on stricter rules on filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs), its chairperson George Erwin Garcia said on Tuesday.
Garcia said that the Comelec is willing to study Remulla’s suggestion for the poll body to amend the COC to include a sworn statement that an election candidate does not have any conflict of interest.
In his radio program last Saturday, Remulla said that once it is included, those who make false declarations must be disqualified.
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“We immediately consulted this with the Comelec’s law department. We asked them to write a comment, and they can submit it by tomorrow,” Garcia told reporters in an interview.
Garcia noted that it is a good proposal, as a sworn statement is not an additional qualification for candidates. He also said that the poll body does not see any unconstitutionality in the said suggestion.
“It’s not wrong to have no conflict of interest because it is stated under the Constitution, especially if you are running in the Congress and even higher positions, there should be no conflict of interest, so we are willing to study and accept that suggestion,” Garcia added.
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According to the Omnibus Election Code, a person filing a COC must state the position he is running for, his full name by which he has been baptized unless he had it changed through a court proceeding, age, birthday, civil status, and residence.
The Comelec earlier announced that it will now require the attachment of a birth certificate upon the filing of COC for the 2026 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections and succeeding elections.
Garcia said that this is to prevent future cases of material misrepresentation and disqualification of candidacies over issues of citizenship. /cb
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