Lack of campaign funds does not make one a nuisance candidate — SC

An individual should not automatically be declared a nuisance candidate solely due to a lack of funds for a nationwide campaign, the Supreme Court (SC) has reiterated.

In a 16-page decision, the SC En Banc said that a nuisance candidate is one whose candidacy was filed to mock the election process.

“A candidate without the machinery of a political party or the finances to mount a nationwide campaign ‘cannot be lumped together with another candidate who was found to have mocked or caused disrepute to the election process’,” it said.

The SC said that financial capacity, membership in a political party, being known nationwide, and the probability of success does not determine by themselves the existence of an intention to run for public office.

According to the SC, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) must prove that the person does not genuinely or seriously intend to run for public office.

The SC said the poll body may consider factors to determine a candidate’s lack of bona fide intention to run such as the candidate’s inability to organize a campaign as well as the absence of a past record of service.

Meanwhile, the court said that it is enough for a candidate to show that they have significant support to be included in the ballot.

“On the other hand, while a mere expression of a candidate’s desire to become an elected official does not suffice, this Court only requires a candidate to show ‘a significant modicum of support before his or her name is printed on the ballot’,” the SC said.

In its ruling, the SC set aside resolutions of the poll body that cancelled the certificate of candidacy (COC) of an individual in the 2022 national and local elections.

The Comelec Law Department filed a petition to declare him a nuisance candidate as he is not well-known and lacked the resources for a nationwide campaign to gain national recognition.

The poll body’s second division granted the petition and declared him a nuisance candidate while the Comelec En Banc denied his motion for reconsideration.

Though the SC reversed the Comelec’s resolutions, the court said that the case is already moot and academic as the 2022 national and local elections have concluded.

“In other words, the complained actions by petitioner, even if wrong, will not undo the outcome of the election,” it said.

The decision, penned by Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, was promulgated on July 30, 2024 but was made public only on January 13, 2025. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News