a. Filing and its Effects

B. Candidacy

• Qualifications and Disqualifications of Candidates
• Filing of Certificates of Candidacy
• Effect of Filing
• Substitution and Withdrawal of Candidates
• Nuisance Candidates
• Duties of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
• Ministerial Duty of COMELEC to Receive Certificates of Candidacy
• Effect of Filing of Certificate of Candidacy
• Eligibility and Material Misrepresentation
• Withdrawal of Certificates of Candidacy
• Effects of Denial and Cancellation of Certificate of Candidacy due to Material Misrepresentation
• Substitution of Candidates
• Nuisance Candidates and Effects of Declaration of Nuisance Candidacy
• Disqualification of Candidates; Effects

Certificate of Candidacy – B.P. Blg. 881, sec. 73

> B.P. Blg. 881, sec. 73 Section 73. Certificate of candidacy. - No person shall be eligible for any elective public office unless he files a sworn certificate of candidacy within the period fixed herein.

A person who has filed a certificate of candidacy may, prior to the election, withdraw the same by submitting to the office concerned a written declaration under oath.

No person shall be eligible for more than one office to be filled in the same election, and if he files his certificate of candidacy for more than one office, he shall not be eligible for any of them.

However, before the expiration of the period for the filing of certificates of candidacy, the person who was filed more than one certificate of candidacy may declare under oath the office for which he desires to be eligible and cancel the certificate of candidacy for the other office or offices.

The filing or withdrawal of a certificate of candidacy shall not affect whatever civil, criminal or administrative liabilities which a candidate may have incurred.

Candidate -  A person aspiring for or seeking an elective public office who has filed by himself or through an accredited political party a certificate of candidacy at the start of the campaign period.

There is no constitutional right to run for or hold public office. What is recognized is merely a privilege subject to limitation imposed by law.

The right to run for public office is not inextricably intertwined with the rights of expression and association. One’s interest in seeking office, by itself, is not entitled to constitutional protection. One cannot bring one’s action under the rubric of freedom of association, absent any allegation that, by running for an elective position, one is advancing the political ideas of a particular set of voters. (Quinto v. COMELEC, G.R. 189698, 2010).

NOTE: Congress may not add to the qualifications for elective officials provided in the Constitution. However, they may do so for elective officials not provided in the Constitution.

Certificate of Candidacy

A statement of a person seeking to run for a public office certifying that he announces his candidacy for the office, the name of the political party to which he belongs if he belongs to any, and his post office address for all election purposes being stated. (Sinaca v. Mula, G8 No. 135691, September27, 1999).

No person shall be elected into public office unless he files his COC within the prescribed period. (Omnibus Election Code, Sec. 73)

The COC shall be filed by the candidate personally or by his duly authorized representative. NO COC shall be accepted if filed by mail or telegram or facsimile.

A person who files a COC before the campaign period is considered a candidate only at the start of that period. Unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a candidate take effect only then. (RA 9369, Sec. 15, amending RA 8436, Sec. 13)

The receiving officers shall have the ministerial duty to receive and acknowledge receipt of the COC.

A COC will not be cancelled even if it failed to specify the position sought if the information omitted is supplied in the certificate of nomination and amended COC.

Prohibition against multiple candidacies

No person shall be eligible for more than one office. If he files for more than 1 position, he shall not be eligible for all unless, before the deadline for filing COCs, he declares under oath the office for which he desires to be eligible and cancels his COC for every other office (B.P. Blg. 881, Sec. 73).

Disqualification of Candidates; Effects

Sheriff’s Expenses

Sheriff’s expenses are not exacted for any service rendered by the court; they are the amount deposited to the Clerk of Court upon filing of the complaint to defray the actual travel expenses of the sheriff, process server or other court-authorized persons in the service of summons, subpoena and other court processes that would be issued relative to the trial of the case. Thus, in In Re: Exemption of Cooperatives from Payment of Court and Sheriff’s Fees Payable to the Government in Actions Brought Under R.A. 6938, the Court clarified that sheriff’s expenses are not considered as legal fees. (In Re Letter of Chief Public Attorney Acosta, AM No. 11-10-03-O, July 30, 2013)

General Effect of Filing COC

A person who files a certificate of candidacy is considered a candidate only at the start of the campaign period for which it was filed. Unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a candidate take effect only at the start of that campaign period. (RA 9369, Sec. 15, amending RA 8436, Sec. 13.)

Effect on Incumbents of Filing of COC

• Any person holding public appointive office or position, including active members of the armed forces, and officers and employees in government-owned or controlled corporations are considered ipso facto resigned from his/her office and must vacate the same at the start of the day of the filing of his/her certificate of candidacy. Said appointed officials would have unfair advantage over their rivals because they might use their office resources for their campaign. (Quinto v. COMELEC,G.R. 189698, 2010).
• Elective officials continue to hold office, whether they run for the same or different position.

Who is a candidate?

A “candidate” refers to any person aspiring for or seeking an elective public office, who has filed a certificate of candidacy by himself (herself) or through an accredited political party, aggroupment, or coalition of parties.

A candidate is “any person who files his certificate of candidacy within this period shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period for which he filed his certificate of candidacy.” Thus, under the law, a person only becomes a candidate when he/she has filed a certificate of candidacy and when the campaign period has commenced. One is not a candidate, despite having filed a certificate of candidacy, before the start of the campaign period. The law added, “unlawful acts or omissions applicable to a candidate shall take effect only upon the start of the aforesaid campaign period.” (Sec. 15, RA 9369).

If a person’s certificate of candidacy is cancelled for ineligibility, that person is deemed never to have been a candidate, whether the cancellation occurs before or after the elections. (H. Sohria Pasagi Diambrang v . COMELEC, G.R. No. 201809, October 11, 2016).

Note the difference between cancellation of COC or denying due course versus losing in an election protest as to effects.