LOOK: Scenes before COC filing begins for Eleksyon 2025

Despite rains, supporters, security personnel, and media personnel flocked early Tuesday morning to a hotel in Manila City for the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 midterm elections.

Inside the Manila Hotel’s Tent City, Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel started their inspections and paneling operations hours before the COC filing begins at 8 a.m.

Scenes here at the Manila Hotel an hour before the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for aspiring senators and party-list representatives for the 2025 midterm elections starts.

The COC filing will run from October 1 to 8, 2024. @gmanews pic.twitter.com/gr7omOuM6s

— Giselle Ombay (@giselleombay_) September 30, 2024

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has also set up big screens around the area and a pledge board where aspiring senators and party-list representatives have to sign.

Upon entering the establishment, aspirants will lodge their COCs and Certificates of Nomination and Acceptance (CONAs) at the Law Department Offsite Working Area.

They may thereafter proceed to the other side of the Tent City where they can pose for a photo holding their COCs, and face the media to give a brief statement or interview.

All systems go for Day 1 of COC filing at Manila Hotel Tent City. Giselle Ombay

They also have to sign the “Panata para sa Malinis, Marangal at may Dignidad na Kampanya sa Halalang 2025” board before exiting the venue.

Panata Para sa Malinis, Marangal at May Dignidad na Kampanya sa Halalang 2025. Giselle Ombay

Outside of the hotel, supporters also gathered early to support a senatorial aspirant.

The filing of COCs will run from October 1 to 8, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Aspirants vying for a total of 18,280 vacant posts are expected to troop to Comelec offices to file their COCs, formalizing their bids for the 2025 national and local elections (NLE). —KG, GMA Integrated News