Comelec accepts Duterte’s CoC for President in the 2016 polls

Davao Mayor Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte (Photo from Duterte’s official website)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) accepted on Thursday the Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for President filed by Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 national elections.

Voting 6-1, the Commission en banc acknowledged the CoC filed by Duterte last Nov. 27, substituting for Martin Dino as the standard-bearer of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).

With this, Comelec Chairman Juan Andres Bautista said that the name of Duterte will be included in the list of presidential candidates for next year’s polls.

However, the poll body chief said that the en banc’s decision is without prejudice to the pending disqualification case filed against the presidential aspirant by broadcaster Ruben Castor before the Comelec’s First Division.

Castor claimed the mayor is not a qualified substitute for Dino as they do not belong to the same political party.