MANILA — A total of 337 aspirants for the Senate and party-list seats have filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) and Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance (CONAs) during the five-day filing period for the May 13, 2019 mid-term polls, an official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Wednesday.
Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said a total of 152 known politicians and newbies are joining the senatorial race while 185 party-list groups submitted CONAs since the start of the filing period on October 11.
The figure is lower than the total number of submitted COCs and CONAs in the May 2016 national and local elections at 172 and 213, respectively.
Among the personalities who filed their COCs on the last day of filing were Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, former senator Serge Osmeña III, former presidential spokesman Harry Roque, and former presidential political adviser Francis Tolentino.
The COC of former senator Bong Revilla was filed by his wife, Bacoor City mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla, while former senator Juan Ponce Enrile also went to the Comelec main office in Manila to personally re-file his amended COC.
Also aspiring for senatorial seats are election lawyer Romy Macalintal, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan, and television reporter Jiggy Manicad.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the COCs will undergo scrutiny as they would weed out nuisance candidates.
“We expect to have the final list by December 15,” he said.
Meanwhile, Commissioner Marlon Casquejo added they are looking to have the final list of official candidates by middle of December as they are scheduled to print the official ballots early next year.
“We have to load the names of candidates to our system. The printing of the ballots is scheduled in January,” he said. –PNA
