Comelec starts hearing nuisance bets’ cases

MANILA, Philippines - A 75-year-old man asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to allow him to pursue his presidential candidacy after the Law Department started hearing the cases of 266 people disqualified from the 2016 polls.

Alfredo Tindugan assured the Comelec that he could sustain a nationwide campaign through the use of social media.

“Hopefully I would be allowed to run because I would spearhead a divine government – a government dedicated to justice, a humane society, love, equality and prosperity,” he said in Filipino during the Comelec’s preliminary conference.

On the other hand, presidential aspirant Rizalito David criticized the Comelec for including him in the list of potential nuisance candidates.

He belongs to a legitimate political party – Ang Kapatiran, he said.

“It seems that there are people who erred in appreciating our documents,” he said.

“We are treated as nuisance because of the letter that was not even supported by a board resolution. It was really meant to muddle the issue (of my candidacy).”

He was referring to the letter that the Comelec sent to Norman Cabrera, the president of Ang Kapatiran. 

Cabrera belongs to a breakaway group comprised of only 12 people.

His candidacy is backed by the party’s secretary-general, who signed his certificate of nomination and  acceptance, he added.

Thirteen candidates for vice president and 128 for senator are also facing disqualification.

These aspirants received letters from the Comelec asking them to explain why they should not be declared as nuisance candidates.

Señeres for president

OFW Family Club Rep. Roy Señeres might be the fifth presidential candidate in the Comelec list.

Until yesterday, he had not received any notice of hearing from the Comelec on his possible disqualification from next year’s polls, Señeres told The STAR in a telephone interview.

“I have not received any notice from the Comelec so far and hopefully I will not receive one,” he said.

Señeres is confident that he will be among the candidates to be allowed to participate in next year’s polls since he has a recognized political party to back him in the nationwide campaign.

He is running under Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka, a duly accredited political party of the Comelec, he added.

The former ambassador and the PPM’s senatorial candidates filed their certificates of candidacy before the Comelec last month.

Only five were deemed qualified among those who filed their COCs for president, the Comelec said earlier.

The four candidates are Manuel Roxas II of the Liberal Party, Vice President Jejomar Binay of United Nationalist Alliance, independent candidate Grace Poe and Miriam Defensor-Santiago of the People’s Reform Party. – Sheila Crisostomo, Mayen Jaymalin