INQUIRER FILES
OLONGAPO CITY — An Aeta leader from Zambales province filed a petition with the local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, asking that his certificate of candidacy (COC) be accepted and processed and that he be allowed to run in the 2025 elections.
Chito Balintay Sr., 66, is seeking to challenge incumbent Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., who also filed his COC to run for his third and final term and remained unopposed based on Comelec records.
In his petition, Balintay said he and his Aeta followers arrived at the Provincial Comelec Office in Zambales’ capital town of Iba to submit his COC at 4:35 pm on Oct. 8, the last day of filing of COCs.
He added that a clerk informed him that a copy of the COC and the required documentary stamps were missing and that he was instructed to return with the complete documents.
But Balintay said the Comelec office later rejected his application upon his return, as it was already 5:03 p.m.
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“The Comelec did not receive my application despite my repeated pleas that I was able to return within a reasonable time (to submit my COC),” he told the Inquirer.
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Balintay is an Aeta leader belonging to the Indigenous peoples of Zambales and has served as the Indigenous Peoples’ representative and ex-officio Board Member of the Provincial Board. He also served as the first Provincial Officer of the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples.
‘In good faith.’
In his petition, Balintay argued that the instructions provided by the clerk were followed “promptly and in good faith.”
“The delay, if any, was a result of an incomplete initial assessment by the Comelec clerk who had evaluated the submitted COC before 5 p.m., and that the delay was due to the petitioner acting in good faith by following the clerk’s instructions,” he said.
Balintay asserted that he was physically present at the Comelec office within the prescribed filing period, noting that he should not be penalized for the administrative oversight or the subsequent few minutes of delay in the final submission of his COC.
According to him, Compelec’s refusal to accept his COC, despite his compliance with the clerical instructions and timely return with the necessary documents, “constitutes a denial of equal protection and due process.”
Balintay said Comelec’s refusal to accept his COC also “constitutes an undue barrier to his candidacy and violates his right to participate in the electoral process.”
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According to Comelec Zambales, it turned down the COC of Balintay since it had incomplete forms and did not bear an original documentary stamp.
Aside from Ebdane, also running unopposed in Zambales elections is his son, Jun Omar Ebdane, who is seeking another term as mayor of Botolan. INQ