Speculations on what Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's next move would be circulated after her withdrawal of her reelection bid on Tuesday, November 9, one of which was the possibility of a substitution so that she could run for a national post.
As such, substitution has become a popular and interesting topic these days. And the Commission on Elections (Comelec) explained how this could be done.
During the Laging Handa briefing on Wednesday, Nov. 10, Comelec Education and Information Department Director Elaiza Sabile-David said that substitutions for a particular post usually happen when an aspirant feels that he or she is no longer fit to run and believes that someone else is more capable filling in. But the decision on substitution is not exclusive to a personal degree.
"Nangyayari din ito sa isang partido kung naiisip nila na magpalit din sila ng kanilang kandidato para sa isang partikular na posisyon (This also happens within a party when they think they should replace one of their candidates for a specific position)," Sabile-David said.
Who is qualified to substitute?
In Duterte-Carpio's case, for her to be able to substitute for someone, she has to be party-mate of the one who withdrew his or her filed certificate of candidacy (COC).
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Sabile-David said it is possible for a person who belongs to a different political party to change their current party affiliation the next day in order to substitute for someone the following day.
"Hindi po problema na ang isang kandidato ay kabilang sa kunyari partido A and then ang gusto niyang isubstitute na kandidato na nag withdraw ay kabilang sa Partido B (It's not a problem if an aspiring candidate will switch from Party A to Party B to substitute a candidate from that party who withdrew their COC)," she explained.
"Hindi po yun hadlang para siya po ay mag substitute ang kailangan lang po magkaroon siya ng nomination from partido B para po masubstitute niya yung kandidatong nag-withdraw doon (It's not a hindrance for someone to substitute if they belong to Party A for they just need a nomination from Party B to substitute for the aspiring candidate)," she added.
She further mentioned that as long as there is a nomination from a party and that the person was acknowledged such as Duterte-Carpio as a member of the party, she may substitute for the candidate. However, Sabile-David said that an independent candidate on the other hand, cannot be substituted.
Once these conditions have been met, the aspiring candidate must go in person file on or before the deadline set by the Comelec which is Nov. 15.
Currently, the Davao City mayor has not yet made public any formal decision to substitute or to transfer to another political party. Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that she is qualified to substitute but not under Hugpong ng Pagbabago which is also a political party but regional.
Two political parties namely the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi have both expressed their interest should the mayor pursue a national post.
READ MORE: Cusi: Sara to alter political landscape if she will run for higher post
Once substituted, it's still not final.
Sabile-David reminded that after an aspiring candidate has successfully substituted for someone, it is still not final and that petitions may still be filed against them.
"Maari pa rin po magkaroon ng petition for example is to declare that candidate nuisance, five days from the time na siya ay nagfile ng COC," she said.