House Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Tuesday, October 12, called for the passage a measure that will stop the substitution of candidates during election time.
“One reform I am proposing is an almost absolute ban on substitution of candidates by political parties. Another is the restoration of the old rule requiring incumbent officials to resign or to be deemed automatically resigned upon the filing of their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for other positions,” said Rodriguez who added that the proposed reform will “put an end to the manipulation and mockery of the election process.”.
Rodriguez said that the practice of candidate switching has led people to believe that some aspirants were not serious or even qualified for the position in which they filed their certificate of candidacy (COC).
“It is lamentable that for the May 2022 elections, certain candidates for the presidency are perceived to be proxies for some personalities, even if they can be considered as serious aspirants,” said Rodriguez, who is seeking reelection as Cagayan de Oro congressman in next year's national election.
Rodriguez proposed that substitution be done only when the candidate-nominee of a political party is disqualified or dies before election day.
This will give the Commission on Elections (Comelec) more time to screen COCs filers, prepare the finalist list of candidates and print the official ballots and related paraphernalia according to Rodriguez.
The former three-term CDO representative added that under the present election law, the Comelec has to wait until the November 15 substitution deadline before finalizing the list of candidates even if the COC filing period concluded last October 8.
“If we maintain the present Oct. 8 COC filing deadline, the commission will have an additional time of more than one month to prepare for the elections. Alternatively, we can move the timelines closer to election day like setting Nov. 15 as the close of the COC filing period,” Rodriguez said.
He added that the candidate substitution ban and the demand for incumbent officials who are running as candidates to resign from their post are reforms that would complement each other.
“A candidate would not agree to be a proxy for a dawdling, wavering or indecisive aspirant if he would have to give up his office. The resignation requirement would apply to all levels, national or local, whether aiming for higher or lower positions,” said Rodriguez who pointed out that the resignation requirement would even the field among elective and appointive officials like Cabinet members who are candidates.
“It would prevent them from using their offices, public funds and their influence to promote their candidacies.” Rodriguez said that his proposed reforms would force aspirants running for higher office to take it seriously and put a stop to the manipulation and mockery of the electoral process. He added that these would also make more people believe in the integrity of our elections. (Melvin Sarangay)