The Commission on Elections on Monday said it was targeting to release the official list of candidates for the 2022 elections by Jan. 7 as it expedites the resolution of pending cases involving some aspirants.
The poll body was supposed to release the final list of candidates on Dec. 15, but it was postponed to a later date due to pending cases on nuisance candidates. A tentative list of candidates was released on Dec. 24.
"We have until Jan. 7 to actually finish everything so that we won't be late for printing," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters.
"Target yan for the release of the official list of candidates. We expect that the list will be final by Jan. 7," he added.
Out of the 97 presidential aspirants in the Comelec's initial list released in October, 15 made it to the tentative list. Jimenez said some of those who are part of the tentative list were only included because they still have pending motions of reconsideration.
One of them was Maria Aurora Marcos, a presidential aspirant, who appealed the Comelec's decision to declare her as a nuisance candidate, Jimenez said.
Aspirants who are facing disqualification petitions may still be included in the official list of candidates as their cases take time to resolve, Jimenez said. One of those facing such cases is Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., with at least five disqualification bids against him.
"It doesn't really impact placement on the ballot because disqualification cases yan. Ibig sabihin, you're not really going after the COC or the status of the candidate as a nuisance. So okay lang yun," Jimenez said.
Disqualified candidates may still be replaced after the printing of the ballot up to midday of election day, provided that the substitute candidate has the same surname.
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