Comelec firm on Oct. 1-8 COC filing period for 2025 polls

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) stood firm on its decision to maintain the scheduled period of filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for the 2025 midterm polls set from Oct. 1 to 8.

Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia opposed the proposal of Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. to delay the filing of COCs to December, noting that this would affect their preparations for the midterm polls and the first Bangsamoro parliamentary elections, both set on May 12, 2025.

"Delaying the filing of Certificates of Candidacy will have far-reaching implications. Maraming matatamaan (A lot would be affected), printing of the ballots, extending the filing of pre-election cases and their resolutions," the poll body chief said in a phone interview.

Garcia added that they need to have more time for the printing of the ballots since they would be printing precinct-specific ballots to include the names of all the candidates.

"As practiced in recent elections, we will have pre-printed ballots, and they will number to more or less 70 million ballots," Garcia added in a separate radio interview.

Garcia said rescheduling the COC filing period would compromise their preparations for the simultaneous midterm and Bangsamoro polls, the bulk of which are set in the fourth quarter of this year.

He also sees no logic in moving the COC filing period.

"Kung talagang tatakbo kayo, bakit ipagpapaliban pa ng dalawang buwan? Kung tatakbo, tatakbo. Kung hindi, hindi (If you really want to run, why postpone it for two months. Just run if you want to. If not, then don't run)," he said.

In House Resolution No. 1942, the Manila lawmaker is pushing to reschedule the COC filing deadline from Oct. 8 to Dec. 8, saying that delaying the filing period will provide "sufficient time for candidates to make the appropriate evaluations, preparations, and decisions". (PNA)