COMELEC Resolution No. 3253




Republic of the Philippines COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS Manila RESOLUTION No. 3253 RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE FILING OF CERTIFICATES OF CANDIDACY IN CONNECTION WITH THE MAY 14, 2001 NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS The Commission on Elections, by virtue of the powers vested in it by the Constitution, the Omnibus Election Code and other election laws, RESOLVED to promulgate, as it hereby promulgates the following RULES AND REGULATIONS GOVERNING THE FILING OF CERTIFICATES OF CANDIDACY in connection with the May 14, 2001 national and local elections. *Section 1. Certificate of candidacy. -* a) No person shall be elected Senator, Member of the House or Representatives, Regional official of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, provincial, city or municipal official unless he files a certificate of candidacy in the form prescribed by the Commission and within the period fixed herein. b) No person shall be eligible for more than one office to be filled in the same election. If he files a certificate of candidacy for more than one office he shall not be eligible for either. However, before the expiration of the period for the filing of certificate of candidacy, he may declare under oath the office for which he desires to be eligible and cancel the certificate of candidacy for the other office or offices. c) A person who has filed a certificate of candidacy may, prior to the election, withdraw the same pursuant to Section 11 hereof. The filing of a withdrawal of a certificate of candidacy shall not affect whatever civil, criminal or administrative liabilities a candidate may have incurred. Sec. 2. Contents of certificate of candidacy. - The certificate of candidacy shall be under oath and shall state that the person filing it is announcing his candidacy for the office and constituency stated therein, that he is eligible for said office, his sex, age, civil status, place and date of birth, his citizenship, whether natural- born or naturalized; the registered political party to which he belongs; if married, the full name of the spouse; his legal residence, giving the exact address, the precinct number, barangay, city or municipality and province where he is registered voter; his post office address for election purposes; his profession or occupation or employment; that he will support and defend the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines and will maintain true faith and allegiance thereto; that he will obey the laws, orders, decrees, resolution, rules and regulations promulgated and issued by the duly-constituted authorities; that he is not a permanent resident of or an immigrant to a foreign country; that he assumes the foregoing obligations voluntarily without mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that the facts stated in the certificate are true and correct of his own personal knowledge. He shall also affix his signature, thumbmark and his latest passport size photograph on the upper-right hand margin thereof; and, if he so desires, a statement, in duplicate in not more than one hundred words, containing his bio-data and program of government. The person filing the certificate of candidacy may include one nickname or stage name by which he is generally or popularly known in the locality; Provided: That, no candidate shall use the nickname, stage name or initials of another. In case of several nicknames or stage names, only the nickname or stage name first written shall be considered. Sec. 3. Filing of certificate of candidacy. - The certificate of candidacy shall be filed in FIVE (5) LEGIBLE COPIES with the offices of the Commission specified hereunder: a. For Senator, with the Law Department of the Commission on Elections in Manila. b. For Members of the House of Representatives: 1. Legislative districts in the National Capital Region (NCR), with the Regional Election Director of said region; 2. Legislative districts in provinces, with the Provincial Election Supervisor concerned; and 3. Legislative districts in cities outside the NCR, which comprise one or more legislative districts, with the City Election Officer designated for the purpose by the Regional Election Director. Copies of said designation shall immediately be submitted to the Law Department of the Commission. c. For ARMM Regional officials: 1. Regional Governor and Vice Governor, with the Regional election Director of either Region 9 or l2; and 2. Member of the Regional Assembly, in the Provincial Election Supervisor of the legislative district where the candidate is registered. d. For Provincial officials, with the Provincial Election Supervisor concerned. e. For City/Municipal officials, with the City or Municipal Election Officer concerned. f. For City officials of cities with more than one election officer, with the Election Officer designated for the purpose by the Regional Election Director. Copies of said designation shall immediately be submitted to the Law Department of the Commission. Certificates of candidacy not filed with the correct offices as enumerated above shall not be accepted. The certificate of candidacy for a substitute shall be filed in accordance with Section 11 hereof. The certificate of candidacy shall be filed by the candidate personally or by his duly authorized representative. No certificate of candidacy shall be accepted if filed by mail, telegram or facsimile. The form of the certificate of candidacy shall be distributed free of charge, and no filing fee or notarial fee, if notarized by an authorized Comelec official, shall be imposed. *Sec. 4. Effect of filing certificate of candidacy. -* a) Any person holding a public APPOINTIVE office including active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other officers and employees in the government owned or controlled corporation, shall be considered ipso facto resigned from his office upon the filing of his certificate of candidacy. b) Any ELECTIVE official running for any office other than the one which he is holding in a permanent capacity, shall be deemed resigned only upon the start of the campaign period corresponding to the position for which he is running. Sec. 5. Period for filing of certificate of candidacy. - The certificate of candidacy shall be filed beginning December 15 up to December 30, 2000. Sec. 6. Certificate of nomination of official candidates by political party. The certificates of nomination by registered political parties or coalitions of their official candidates shall be filed not later than the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy as specified in Section 5 hereof, duly signed and attested under oath by the party president, chairman, secretary-general or any other officer duly authorized in writing to do so. If the certificate of nomination is filed after the certificate of candidacy has been filed, a copy of the latter shall be attached to the former. No certificate of nomination or any amendment thereto shall be filed after the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy. A candidate who has not been nominated by a registered political party, or whose nomination has not been submitted by a registered political party, or who accepts nominations from more than one registered political party, or whose nomination was filed after the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy, shall be considered as an independent candidate. Sec.7. Ministerial duty of receiving and acknowledging receipt of certificate of candidacy; Recording. - The receiving officer as provided for in Section 3 hereof shall be have the ministerial duty to receive and acknowledge receipt of the certificate of candidacy and party nomination on or before the deadline for the filing thereof. He shall stamp every copy of each certificate with the date and time of its receipt and affix his signature thereon. Thereafter, he shall enter- in a record book, the following data, leaving no space between entries: a) date and time of receipt of the certificate; b) assigned consecutive number thereof; c) full name of the candidate; d) the office for which the candidate is running; e) the political party to which the candidate belongs and/or which nominated him, if any; f) the number of copies actually received; and g) the name of the officer or employee who actually received the certificate. Immediately after 12:00 o’clock midnight of December 30, 2000, the receiving official shall close the record, book by placing a line immediately after the last entry and writing the word "closed". He shall then affix his signature immediately below the word "closed" and indicate the date and exact time of closing. No certificate of candidacy and/or party nomination shall be received after 12:00 o’clock midnight of December 30, 2000. Sec. 8. Watchers of candidates, political parties and accredited citizens’ arms. - Any candidate, political party accredited citizens arm may appoint a watcher in connection with the filing and reception of the certificates of candidacy. The watcher shall be allowed to stay within the premises of the authorized receiving office and to take note of any irregularity but without interrupting, or disturbing official business. Any watcher may report in writing to the Commission any irregularity, which may require appropriate action. Watchers shall be entitled, upon request, to secure from the receiving officer a copy of the full list of those who filed their certificate of candidacy and their respective positions. Sec. 9. Reports on the delivery of certificates of candidacy. - On the first working day after the last day of the filing of certificates of candidacy, the receiving officer shall report, by rush telegram or any available fastest means of communication to the Commission through the Law Department, a complete list of candidates who have filed their certificates of candidacy as entered in the record book. On the same day, all copies of the certificates of candidacy filed with the field offices as provided in Section 3 hereof shall, except one copy to be retained by the receiving officer for his file, be delivered personally to the Law Department of the Commission in Manila by the following: a. For Member of the House of Representatives in the legislative districts in the NCR, by the Regional Election Director of said region; b. For city and municipal positions in the NCR, by the Election Officer concerned; c. For Member of the House of Representatives outside the NCR, provincial, city and municipal positions, by the Provincial Election Supervisor concerned. For this purpose, the Election Officer concerned shall deliver the copies of the certificates of candidacy for city and municipal positions to his Provincial Election Supervisor; d. For ARMM Governor and Vice-Governor, by the Regional Election Director concerned; and e. For ARMM Regional Assemblyman, by the Provincial Election Supervisor concerned. Sec. 10. Distribution of copies. - The copies of the certificates of candidacy shall be distributed as follows: a. First copy, to be retained by the Law Department; b. Second copy, to the Commission en banc through the Chairman; and c. Third copy, to the Election Records and Statistic Department. Sec.11. Withdrawal of certificate of candidacy. — Any candidate who desires to withdraw his candidacy may at any time before election day file a statement of withdrawal under oath in five (5) legible copies with the office where the certificate of candidacy was filed. The regional election director, provincial election supervisor or the election officer concerned shall, upon receipt of the withdrawal, retain a file copy and immediately forward to the Commission through the Law Department all the other copies. On the same date, he shall notify the Law Department by the fastest means of communication of the: a) full name of the candidate withdrawing; b) elective office concerned; c) political party of the candidate, if any; and d) substitution made, if any. The field office concerned shall be notified of any withdrawal of candidacy and/or substitution filed with the Commission. Sec.12. Substitute candidate in case of death, disqualification or withdrawal of another. - If after the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy, an official candidate of a registered political party dies, withdraws or is disqualified for any cause, he may be substituted by a candidate belonging to, and nominated by, the same political party. No substitution shall be allowed for an independent candidate. The substitute candidate nominated by the political party concerned may file his certificate of candidacy as herein provided for the office affected not later than mid-day of the election. If the death or disqualification should occur between the day before the election and mid-day of election day, the substitute candidate may file the certificate with any board of election inspectors in the political subdivision where he is a candidate, or in the case of candidates for Senator, with the Law Department of the Commission on Elections in Manila. No person who has withdrawn his candidacy for a position shall be eligible as substitute candidate for any other position. Sec.13. Nuisance candidates. - The Commission may, motu proprio, or upon verified petition of an interested party, refuse to give due course to or cancel a certificate of candidacy, if it is shown that said certificate has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute, or to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of registered candidates, or by other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate. A verified petition to declare a duly registered candidate as a nuisance candidate shall be filed personally or through a duly authorized representative with the Commission by any registered candidate for the same office within five (5) days from the last day for filing of certificates of candidacy. Sec. 14. Petition to deny due course to or to cancel certificate of candidacy. - A verified petition seeking to deny due course or to cancel a certificate of candidacy may be filed with the Commission by any person within (5) days from the last day of filing of certificates of candidacy exclusively on the ground that any material representation contained therein as required by law is false. Sec. 15. Where to file petitions to declare a candidate as nuisance, or to deny due course or cancel a certificate of candidacy. - Petitions to declare a candidate as a nuisance, or to deny due course to or cancel certificate of candidacy shall be filed with the following offices of Commission: a) For positions involving Senator, with the Clerk of the Commission, Commission on Elections in Manila; b) For Member of the House of Representatives and local positions in the National Capital Region, with the Regional Election Director of said region; c) For ARMM Governor and Vice-Governor with the Regional Election Director of the region where the certificate of candidacy was filed; and d) For all other positions, with the Provincial Election Supervisor concerned. Sec.16. Disqualification after filing of the certificate of candidacy. - Any candidate who in criminal action in which he is a party is declared by final judgment of a competent court guilty of, or who in a petition for disqualification is found by the Commission of having committed any act declared by law to be a ground for disqualification, shall be disqualified from continuing as a candidate, or from being proclaimed, or from loading office. Sec. 17. Effect of disqualification. – Any candidate who has been declared by final judgment to be disqualified, shall not be voted for and the votes cast for him shall not be counted. If, before the election a candidate is not, for any reason, declared by final judgment to be qualified and he is voted for and received the winning number of votes in such election, the court or the Commission shall continue with the trial and hearing of the action, and upon motion of the complainant or intervenor, may during the pendency thereof, order the suspension of the proclamation of such candidate whenever the evidence of guilt is strong. Sec. 18. Effectivity. - This resolution shall take effect on the seventh day following its publication in two (2) daily newspapers of general circulation. Sec. 19. Dissemination. - The Education and Information Department shall cause the publication of this resolution, and furnish copies hereof to all field offices of the Commission as well as to the President. of Secretary of all registered political parties or coalitions. (SGD.) HARRIET O. DEMETRIOU, Chairman (SGD.) JULIO F. DESAMITO, Commissioner (SGD.) TERESITA DY-LIACCO FLORES, Commissioner (SGD.) LUZVIMINDA G. TANCANGCO, Commissioner (SGD.) RALPH C. LANTION, Commissioner (SGD.) RUFINO S.B. JAVIER, Commissioner (SGD.) MEHOL K. SADAIN, Commissioner Promulgated, September 28, 2000. The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation