The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced that 57 out of the 185 Senate bets filed their certificates of candidacy (COC) yesterday.
Among those who was supposed to file his candidacy for senator was former President Rodrigo Duterte who had reportedly decided to withdraw his bid for mayor of Davao City. This was denied later in the day by the Hugpong ng Tawong Lungsod party.
“He is running for the position of Mayor of Davao City, and he remains committed to returning to local governance and serving the people of Davao,” it said in a statement.
“We are well aware of the strong public support for former President Duterte in Senate surveys, a clear reflection of the Filipino people’s trust and confidence in his leadership “
As of October 7, the poll body said that 28,105 have filed their COCs wanting to seek elective posts for the 2025 midterm elections.
“185 are running for the Senate, and 190 for partylist,” according to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia.
Garcia said this is lower than the number of aspirants who filed their candidacies on the final day of the filing period in 2022.
The poll chief said that this year’s COC filing was held without the usual fiesta-like noise because of the strict guidelines implemented by the Comelec.
Apart from big political names, showbiz personalities also appeared during the last day of COC and CONA filing,
Among the stars who submitted documents for their election bids are TV host Willie Revillame, former senator Kiko Pangilinan, former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez, and Nora Aunor, among others.
Comelec has yet to provide the final numbers of filers for local positions.
Garcia said the Comelec will no longer allow substitution of candidates beyond the deadline of the filing period of COC for those running in the May 2025 midterm elections.
In an interview, Garcia said that it was a unanimous decision by the Commission en banc to prohibit substitution after the last day of filing of COCs, which is Oct. 8, if it is on the ground of withdrawal of candidacy.
Garcia said the substitution of candidates will still be permitted beyond Oct. 8 only on grounds of death or disqualification of candidates.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said they expect the number of registered voters in the 2025 polls to be at 71 million.
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