MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday canceled the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) of actor Edu Manzano, who is running for a congressional seat for the lone district of San Juan City.

The 15-page Comelec Second Division decision reads that the poll body has granted the petition filed by Sophia Patricia Gil, a San Juan City resident, in November 2018 which claimed that Manzano misrepresented himself by declaring that he is a Filipino citizen when he filed his CoC for the May Midterm elections.

“Respondent is not a Filipino citizen at the time he filed his COC for a member of the House of Representatives for the lone district of San Juan City,” Comelec stated in its decision released on May 6.

It added that Manzano committed false material representation of his citizenship, prompting the poll body to cancel his COC.

Comelec said Manzano failed to re-acquire his Filipino citizenship at the time that he filed his COC in October last year.

Manzano lost his Filipino citizenship when he served as a member of the United States Army from 1973 to 1977, according to Section 1-4 of the Commonwealth Act (CA) No. 63.

Comelec explained that the “C.A. No. 63 is clear and explicit in stating that by rendering service to, or accepting commission in, the armed forces of a foreign country, a Filipino will lose his Philippine citizenship.”

Manzano became Makati vice mayor in 1998. He lost, however, when he took a mayoral bid in 2001. He had also run in the vice presidential and senatorial race in 2010 and 2016, respectively.

MANILA, Philippines – The period of filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2019 mid-term elections has just concluded.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said they will immediately start the evaluation of the COCs as they need to screen thousands of them to include those from different parts of the country.

“We expect to have that information out by December…by tomorrow we expect na magdadatingan ang mga filing from different provinces so we will start the evaluation process right away. Pero since napakarami ng nag-file sa atin, we have thousands of COCs literally to go through. Again, by December, matatapos natin iyan,” said Comelec Spokesperson Director James Jimenez.

Overall, the poll body received a total of 152 COCs for the senatorial race and 185 certificates of nomination and acceptance (CONA) at the Comelec Main office in Manila.

Jimenez said generally the five-day period of filing the COCs was peaceful except for some problems like filers using the old version of the COC and the lax in security during the filing of former Special Assistant to the President Bong Go.

The poll body, however, clarified that there was no standoff.

“We investigated on the event for what happened, it turns out that there were other people who joined the entourage or the companions so it appeared that there were too many companions of one candidate when in fact these were companions drawn from various other candidacies,” Jimenez explained.

“I speak for the Commission comfortably and with confidence when I say that the Commission will always be fair and transparent in our dealings with the candidates,” he added.

The poll body also reminded all candidates that they can submit substitution for candidacy only until November 29, 2018.

“Ang voluntary withdrawal pwedeng samahan iyan ng substitution of candidate. Kailangan lamang, kapartido mo ang magsa-substitute para sa iyo. Hanggang November 29 iyan. After Novermber 29, involuntary withdrawal na lang ang allowed,” the Comelec spokesperson said.

The Comelec is expected to issue the final list by December 15, 2018.

The poll body also wants to make it clear that the campaign period for the senatorial candidates and party-list groups will be from February 12 to May 11, 2019.

Meanwhile, those running for a seat in the House of Representatives may only start campaigning on May 11, 2019.

In accordance with Resolution No. 10429, election period is set on January 13 until July 12, 2019 in which gun ban will also take effect.

Finally, election day will be on May 13, 2019, a Monday,

As always, the Comelec reminds the voting public to use their right to suffrage wisely.

“Hindi pa natin alam ang final list pero may idea na kayo kung sino ang dapat nating pag-aralan ang plataporma, ang ikinikilos sa gobyerno, sa pakikitungo sa tao. Dapat magdesisyon tayo ng tama para tama rin ang iboboto natin,” Jimenez concluded — Marje Pelayo (with reports from Aiko Miguel)

QUEZON CITY, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) is set to release the list of election hotspots across the country on the last day of filing of certificate of candidacy (COC) on October 17.

PNP Chief Director General Oscar Albayalde, however, named five areas where incidents of election-related violence are perennial.

These are Abra, Masbate, Lanao, Zamboanga Del Norte and Zamboanga Del Sur.

Albayalde noted, however, that these areas are not the top five in the list because they are still finalizing their records.

“Ito iyong sinasabi natin na mga perrenial na andyan sa election watchlist areas (EWAs) na di nawawala tuwing election. Ilalabas natin ang final after the end of candidacy,” Albayalde said. – Lea Ylagan / Marje Pelayo