House OKs bill vs nuisance candidates on 3rd reading
MANILA, Philippines — A bill that seeks to classify actions of nuisance candidates as election offenses has been approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading.
During the session on Monday, House Bill (HB) No. 11317 which seeks to amend Batas Pambansa Blg. 881 or the Omnibus Election Code was approved with 193 lawmakers voting in the affirmative, four in the negative, and zero abstentions.
If enacted, a provision will be inserted in Section 69 to include running for office just to obtain money or profit as grounds for cancellation of one’s certificate of candidacy (COC).
In addition, if HB No. 11317 is signed into law, filing a COC that violates the grounds under the amended Section 69 will be considered as prohibited acts or election offenses.
Kabataan party-list Rep. Raoul Manuel, however, said that he voted against the bill’s passage because he believes that the “risk carried by this bill outweighs the benefits.”
Article continues after this advertisementAccording to Manuel, if the bill becomes a law, it may wrongly penalize aspiring public servants who come from “less privileged backgrounds” or those from independent parties,
Article continues after this advertisement“Ang mga kandidato galing sa mahihirap na pamilya, those who come from less privileged backgrounds at pati yung mga galing sa relatively less established parties o kahit mga tumatakbong independent—sila, Mr. Speaker, ay disadvantage na sa nakapaka-uneven na playing field ng politika at halalan sa ating bansa,” Manuel said.
(The candidates who come from poor families, those who come from less privileged backgrounds and those from relatively less established parties or those running independently would be at a disadvantage because of an uneven playing field in our politics and elections.)
Manuel further said that other candidates who have a record of human rights violations or abuses should be the one who are disqualified or declared nuisance candidates.
“Kaya naman, Mr. Speaker, kung sasagutin natin kung sino ba ang dapat ma-disqualify sa halalan ay sa totoo lang, mas marami ‘yong karapat-dapat na ma-disqualify bagamat hindi sila napapasama sa current na pamantayan ng Comelec (Commission on Elections) sa pagiging nuisance candidate,” he said.
(That’s why Mr. Speaker, if we would say who deserves to be disqualified, honestly there are individuals more deserving of being declared nuisance candidates although they do not fit Comelec’s current criteria.)
Proposals to — and to possibly criminalize such acts — have earned support from the Comelec.
Last January 21, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said that there are instances wherein candidates are paid by a politician because he or she possesses a name that bears a resemblance to an opponent’s identity.
According to Garcia, the nuisance candidates must be fined, if not jailed, “to learn their lesson.”
