Comelec offices start accepting COC for 2010 polls
Starting today various offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be open to anybody who will file their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for next year’s national and local elections.
Comelec Regional Director Atty. Dennis Ausan, in a recent interview, said that the various Comelec offices in the country are all set for the start of the filing of COC of political aspirants.
He said those running for municipal positions—mayor, vice mayor, councilors—shall file their COC with their respective municipal election officer while aspirants for provincial positions—congressman, governor, vice governor, board member—with the Provincial Comelec in Jaro, Iloilo City.
Comelec offices will be accepting COCs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. even on Sunday and on the last day, December 1, Comelec will be open until midnight.
Ausan, however, called on prospective candidates not to wait for the deadline to avoid inconvenience.
The COCs must be coupled with pictures of candidates. The pictures would be scanned in the local Comelec before its transmittal to the national office.
The data of the candidate, party affiliation and other circumstances required would be also encoded in front of the candidate as they file their COCs. It would be a computer-generated data gathering.
The process will be implemented to minimize errors and complaint of the non-inclusion of the candidate’s name in the Comelec masterlist. The records of the candidates are vital in the first automated election in the country. The casting of ballot would be done through a precinct optical scan (PCOS).
Ausan also warned the candidates that once they have filed their COC they could no longer engage in campaigning or any activities that would promote themselves, otherwise they could be held liable for premature campaigning.
Ausan said that the start of the campaign period for local bets will still be on March 26, 2010 while the campaign period for candidates for president, vice president, and senators will commence on February 9, 2010.
