House bills seek ban on candidate substitution, resignation of political aspirant from post

Two bills have been filed at the House of Representatives seeking to prohibit candidate substitution and declare an incumbent elective official as resigned upon filing his or her candidacy for a government post.

According to Deputy Speaker and Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez, the proposed measures he authored aim to end the practices of some political parties and political aspirants that tend to "doubt the integrity of the elections."

House Bill 10380 proposes that a political party should be banned from substituting any candidate unless the latter dies or is disqualified.

"While there is nothing wrong with substitution in case of death or disqualification, which is justifiable, substitution because of withdrawal, or what others call voluntary substitution, may pose serious questions and may lead to the manipulation and mockery of the election process,” Rodriguez said.

“Withdrawals could lead the voting public to believe that the candidate who withdrew, or even the political party or substituting candidate, is not really serious,” he added.

Rodriguez said the Omnibus Election Code allows the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to disqualify an aspirant who filed his certificate of candidacy "to put the election process in mockery or disrepute."

"As such, any person who has no real intention to run and only filed for candidacy as a placeholder (for another aspirant) should be declared as a nuisance candidate,” Rodriguez said.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez has said the admission of political parties that they have fielded a placeholder in an elective position would not suffice to declare the filer of the certificate of candidacy as a nuisance candidate, noting that a lack of a bona fide intention to run needs to be proven.

The other measure, House Bill 10381, aims to restore the old provision in the election law that declared an incumbent as resigned ipso facto (by that very fact or act) upon filing his COC for another position.

"It is high time to reinstate the repealed provision on elective officials being deemed resigned once they file their certificates of candidacy, but only if they file for another position different from the ones they are currently holding,” Rodriguez said.

“This would force aspirants to take running for higher office seriously and to stop manipulating and mocking the electoral process. It would also make more people believe in the integrity of our elections,” he added.

He said this would prevent incumbents from using their office, public funds and property, and influence to promote their candidacy in the elections.

The lawmaker said the Fair Elections Act of 2001 (Republic Act No. 9006) scrapped the resignation declaration.

Both bills were lodged by Rodriguez on Wednesday. —KBK, GMA News