THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has issued the guidelines for the filing of the certificate of candidacy (CoC) of candidates who will run in the 2025 national and local elections.
Up for grabs in the May 2025 polls are positions for 12 senators, 254 district representatives, 63 party-list organizations, 82 governors, 82 vice governors, 1,682 members of city council, 800 members of provincial council, 11,948 members of municipal council, 149 city mayors, 149 city vice mayors, 1,493 municipal mayors, 1,493 municipal vice mayors, 25 members of parliament in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and 40 BARMM party-list representatives.
To be filed by candidates along with the CoC is their Certificate of Acceptance of Nomination (CAN).
Party-list groups are required to submit 10 nominees from which the party-list representative shall be chosen.
“Nomination of less than 10 nominees shall not be accepted and shall not be given due course by the commission,” it said.
Candidates for senators and party-list must file their COCs at the Comelec Law Department or a place designated by the Comelec en banc and at the Office of the Provincial Election Officer (OPES) for the the positions of governor, vice governor, and members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
On the other hand, candidates for mayors, vice mayors, and members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguiang Bayan shall file their CoCs at the Office of the Election Officer (OEO).
Candidates for congressman must file their CoCs at the Office of the Regional Election Director, OPES or OEOs.
Under Comelec Resolution 11045, no person shall be elected senator, member of the House of Representatives, regional positions in the BARMM, provincial, city or municipal official unless he files a CoC in the form prescribed by the commission and within the designated period of filing.
The CoC may be filed personally or through an authorized representative of the candidate from October 1 to October 8, including Saturday and Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a place designated by the commission.
For district representatives of the BARMM parliament, the filing of the CoC is from November 4 to 9.
Comelec said that incorrectly filed CoC shall be deemed “not filed.”
The commission has also disallowed substitution of candidates after the last day of the filing of CoC or October 8. if the ground is withdrawal of candidacy.
Substitution would only be allowed if the reason is either because of death or disqualification of the candidate, provided that the substitute candidate and the one to be substituted have the same family name and belong to the same political party.
“They should have the same surname, regardless if they are related by blood or not and should belong to the same political party,” Comelec said.
Under the Comelec rules, substitution because of death or disqualification would be allowed until midday of the election on May 12, 2025
No substitution is allowed for independent candidates.
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