Commission on Elections. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The 117 senatorial aspirants excluded from the partial list of bets for the 2025 polls are not yet considered nuisance candidates, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia explained they have to undergo due process before being declared nuisance candidates.
So far, only 66 out of 183 aspirants made it to the Comelec’s list.
READ: Full list of 183 senatorial aspirants for 2025 polls
READ: Comelec releases initial list of 66 bets for 2025 Senate race
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“For the 117, do not worry. While you are omitted [from the list], it is not yet final,” Garcia said in a press conference on Wednesday.
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Starting Thursday, Garcia said, the Comelec law department will file a formal petition to declare the 117 aspirants as nuisance candidates.
Comelec’s two divisions will raffle the cases and determine whether the bets are a nuisance.
Petitioners may file a request to declare an aspirant as a nuisance, but the Comelec has motu proprio powers to make that decision.
“The 117 were not included because they need to undergo a formal process to determine if they should be declared a nuisance [candidate] or not,” he said.
“The 117 out of 183 aspirants should explain why they shouldn’t be declared a nuisance candidate,” he added.
The Comelec is targeting to have the final list of local and national candidates by December 13, which is why it has to complete the purging of nuisance candidates from the list before the end of November.
READ: Comelec to complete purging nuisance bets from list before end of Nov
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As of Oct. 16, the deadline for receiving petitions for declaration of nuisance candidates, the poll body received 104 cases.