MikeLigalig.com

by PNA

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) here has recommended to declare as nuisance mayoral candidates the five others who filed their Certificate of Candidacies (CoCs) to challenge the come-backing Vice-Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

According to Comelec regional legal counsel Danilo Cullo, Duterte may be running unopposed in the upcoming May 13, 2013 midterm elections after they moved for the disqualification of Rodrigo P. Buezon, Teodoro Peña Mantilla, Magdaleno S. Marcellones, Rolly T. Solis, and Rodrigo J. Sulamin, following a hearing conducted last January 11.

Cullo said the five other mayoral bets may not make it to the "Certified List of the Candidates," although he cannot say with finality on the matter pending resolution from the Comelec en banc.

"We have not yet received any notice that they have been disqualified," he said.

Even before the hearing, the poll body in the city already came up with a list of possible nuisance candidates based on their "demeanor and actions," citing instances where they answered vaguely to television interviews about their platforms.

Comelec Resolution 8678 states that "a candidate can be considered nuisance if he "put(s) the election process in mockery or disrepute; causes confusion among the voters by the similarity of names of registered candidates; or, one who has no bona fide intention to run for the office."

This was the first time Comelec had conducted a hearing where suspected nuisance candidates were subjected to an investigation.

Duterte’s son, Paolo Duterte, who is currently the president of the Association of Barangay Captains that qualified him to be a city councilor, has also no opponent in the vice mayoral race.

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