For Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos, nuisance candidates are "a bane to any electoral system" and must be stopped from mocking the elections. Marcos penned and filed House Bill (HB) No.8415, which futher details his low opinion on nuisance poll bets. The measure is titled "An Act providing an additional ground for canceling the certificate of candidacy (COC) of a nuisance candidate, and making the acts of a nuisance candidate an election offense". "This bill aims to sanction or put a stop to the maleficence of nuisance candidates in trying to pervert our electoral system," the senior deputy majority leader wrote in his explanatory note. "Nuisance candidates are a bane to any electoral system. Usually fielded by rival politicians, their candidacy are intended to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates," he said. "Whether they are running for money, profit or any other consideration, or not, their mere participation in the electoral race prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate. In effect, they put the election process in mockery or disrepute, especially so if they accidentally win," Marcos said. According to the presidential son, nuisance candidates usually don't have a bona fide intention to run for public office "but they have filed their candidacy anyway simply to derail the political aspirations of opposing politicians". "Much had been said about our country being a democratic state. But being a representative type of democracy (that is, a republic), our people's only direct and most visible form of democratic participation occurs only during elections. There is therefore a compelling need to preserve the integrity of our electoral process," Marcos further said in justifying HB No.8415. The bill seeks to amend Sections 69, 261 (cc) and 264 of Batas Pambasa (BP) Blg. 881, also known as the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines. Under the measure, any person who was found by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to have filed a COC 1) to put the election process in mockery or disrepute, 2) to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of names of the registered candidate, 3) to obtain money, profit, or any other consideration, 4) by any other circumstances or act, will be disqualified from the electoral race. Any person found guilty shall pay a fine of P50,000, as per the Marcos bill, which is pending before the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms.