Kontra Daya says Comelec should junk petition seeking to re-open COC filing
Kontra Daya said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should junk the petition of PDP-Laban seeking to re-open the filing of the certificates of candidacy (COCs) for making a mockery of election rules.

"The petition is so laughable that it should be dismissed immediately," Kontra Daya Convener Danilo Arao said in an interview.
"It is a mockery of election rules because it ignores the set deadlines and offers no compelling reason for extension," he added.
"We cannot take seriously any call to reopen COC filing when the deadline has lapsed months ago," said Arao.
The COC filing period was held last Oct. 1 to 8, 2021.
Kontra Daya stressed that elections should not be treated as a "joke." On Friday, Dec. 31, the PDP-Laban wing of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi filed a petition to re-open the period to file COC for the 2022 National and Local elections.
“The party believes that the Comelec should re-open and allow the filing of COC’s for National and Local candidates in view of the fact that it cannot, and should not, proceed with printing of ballots for the 2022 elections while several cases affecting candidates and party-lists are still pending before it," said Melvin Matibag, Secretary General of PDP Laban.
“We are asking the Comelec to review its self-imposed deadlines in the interest of the electorate. This petition will benefit everyone and should be intently considered by the Commission,” he added.
Under Republic Act 9369, the Comelec has the authority to "set a deadline" for the filing of COCs, without specifically providing any operative dates as reckoning points.