1 M bond for candidates

Nuisance candidates Peter Cayetano and Fernando Po may think twice before casting their lot in the forthcoming elections in 2010.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is planning to impose a P1-million “campaign bond” to get rid of so-called nuisance candidates in the scheduled computerized elections.

“We are still looking at ways to do it, but we are toying with the idea of putting up a P1-million bond for those aspiring for national positions so we could easily purge our list of candidates,” Comelec Chairman Jose Melo disclosed.

Melo said there is a need for the Comelec to purge the list of candidates because it is costing the poll body a huge sum of money in the printing of ballots containing a long list of aspirants, including nuisance bets.
He said under the current regulations, almost any Filipino can comply with the existing requirements and file their candidacy for various national and local positions.

Melo noted that there are people who just file their certificates of candidacy just so they can see their names in the list of candidates while others do it to “break down” votes of well-known aspirants.

Comelec records showed that a certain Fernando Po has been consistently filing his certificate of candidacy every senatorial election for more than a decade, but usually he is removed from the list for being a nuisance bet.

A namesake of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also filed his certificate of candidacy in the 2007 senatorial elections. He was eventually disqualified.

Melo said the Comelec hopes to purge not only the list of voters but also the list of candidates for national elections.

“Those who have the capacity to mount a national (campaign) must also be able to put a P1 million bond,” Melo said, adding the Comelec may also require the same for local candidates.

Melo added that the Comelec is also considering coming out with a resolution that would forfeit the P1 million in favor of the poll body for those national candidates who would not be able to obtain at least two percent of the votes.

Aside from national candidates, Melo said, the Comelec also intends to purge the participants in the party-list elections.

“The participants in the party-list elections have gotten out of hand, any small group just claims to be marginalized and run in the polls,” Melo pointed out.

Melo said there are over a hundred party-list groups in the Comelec list.

“This is just a side issue, but we will have to look into this,” Melo said.

Sen. Loren Legarda welcomed the plan of the Comelec to put up a P1-million bond for national candidates to deter nuisance candidates.

“It’s okay to make sure that there are no nuisance candidates. But what we must focus on is automation so we can prevent massive fraud as in the past,” Legarda said.

Legarda said poll automation would also discourage vote-buying.

As this developed, Sen. Richard Gordon said he expects Congress to act immediately on the supplemental budget for the automation of the May 2010 elections as soon as its members return from Christmas break on Jan. 19.

Gordon said the Department of Budget and Management had finally submitted P11.9-billion supplemental budget request for poll automation to the House committee on appropriations.

“Malacañang and the Comelec have finally done their part in the submission of the budget proposal. Now it is Congress’ turn to act with dispatch on the supplemental budget for the 2010 automated elections,” he said.

(This Comelec idea may disqualify me to run for president - in case this ruling is passed.. Comment - This idea will not only curtail our rights to suffrage or for any Filipino to run in office. All Filipinos of the right age can run for any office in the land, but not all good Filipinos with good intentions to fix the country can afford to put up 1 M because the COMELEC says so. If the COMELEC has the right automation to count the ballots, no matter how many nuisance candidates put their names on the ballot, the real elected officials will come out. It's not the number of nuisance candidates that matter. It's how they make a good program on the computer that will eliminate the nuisance candidates from making the poll ineffective). Independent candidates here are severely discriminated. Hay naku, will any smarter Filipino heads the COMELEC, please - before they start counting the ballots again.