Comelec allows COC filing for 2023 BSKE in malls, big public spaces for populated areas

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has allowed the filing of certificates of candidacy in malls and other big public spaces for field offices that cannot accommodate a huge volume of people.

Comelec spokesperson Rex Laudiangco disclosed this during the Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum as he mentioned that they allowed this in a mall in Manila.

“Ngayon pa lamang po bumaba na ang utos sa lahat ng election officers namin. Kung hindi kaya at masikip ang inyong tanggapan humanap ng lugar na appropriate-- public gymnasiums, kung may maka-partner na mall, better, basta po kayang i-accommodate ‘yung volume po ng tao at ng COC come the six-day filing period,” he said.

(Right now, we ordered all our election officers to find an appropriate place like a public gymnasium and malls which can accommodate a huge volume of people come the six-day period for COC filing.)

Laudiangco cited as an example the recurrent problem in a Comelec field office in Arroceros, Manila where people are already lining up on the streets just to file their COCs.

“Kung kayang gawin ng Manila, ba’t di kaya gawin sa ibang lugar na pareho ang sitwasyon? Hindi naman po natin gagawin ito sa lahat, ‘no, pero dun lamang po sa mga may pangangailangan,” he said.

(If we can do it in Manila, why can’t we do it in other places with the same situation? We will not do it to all field offices but only in areas which would need a larger space.)

The filing of COCs for the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) is set from August 28 to September 2.

The BSKE has been repeatedly postponed since 2016. In October 2022, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. signed the law moving the December 2022 BSKE to the last Monday of October 2023. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News