House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate on Wednesday, Oct. 13 dared the Commission on Elections to declare all place holder candidates as nuisance candidates.

Zarate aired the challenge a few days after Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa disclosed that he is willing to give up his presidential bid if Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte changes her mind and decides to run for the highest post in the land in 2022.

Dela Rosa is the official candidate for president of the PDP-Laban, of which Mayor Duterte is not a member.

In a television interview, Dela Rosa also revealed that if Mayor Duterte decides to run for president but under another political party, he would still seek the approval of the mayor’s father, President Rodrigo Duterte, if he will challenge her.

"This kind of practice is a mockery of the election system and is a way of fooling the electorate," Zarate said in reaction to Dela Rosa’s statements.

"Kung tatakbo ka sa halalan dapat ito ay masinsin mong pinag-aralan at pinag-isipan hindi yung parang hinatak ka lang dyan para may pumalit sa yo. Nakakainsulto ito sa mga botante at pinagmumukhang katatawanan ang halalan. (If you are running in an elections, this decision should be studied carefully and not as if one was only forced to run in order to allow substitution. This insults the voters and makes a mockery of the elections).” said Zarate.

"We are challenging the Comelec to immediately declare these place holder candidates as nuisance for making a mockery of the election process and insulting the intelligence of voters,. These candidates should even be punished for this election atrocity," the opposition lawmaker stated.