CoCs of poll bets to be published

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will make public the certificates of candidacy (CoCs) of all candidates who will run in the 2025 local and national polls for the sake of transparency and to ensure that only qualified candidates can run for public office.

«Because of our experience in Bamban, Tarlac, and in the absence of a law that would give the Comelec the authority or discretion to ask candidates to submit additional documents, we deemed it necessary to publish on its website all the CoCs of all candidates running for any position so that the public will know and see who are these candidates and if they are really qualified,» Chairman George Erwin Garcia said on Wednesday.

Garcia was referring to suspended Bamban Mayor Alice Guo, who was placed by the Office Ombudsman on preventive suspension of up to six months pending the results of an investigation into a complaint filed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government over illegal activities at a Philippine offshore gaming operator complex in the town of Tarlac.

Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin Garcia. PHOTO BY MIKE ALQUINTO

«This is the first time that we will do it,» Garcia added but pointed out that the information that will be published by the Comelec will be limited to what is required by Section 74 of the Omnibus Election Code or in accordance only with the provision of the Data Privacy Act.

Personal data that would not be published include the candidate's civil status, the name of the spouse, and email address.