5 electoral protests filed so far over poll results: Comelec

FILE: COMELEC REMINDS CANDIDATES TO SUBMIT SOCE. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Spokesperson James Jimenez reminds all candidates in the recently concluded mid-term polls to submit their Statement of Contributions and Expenditures (SOCEs), during the press briefing held at the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) headquarters, Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City on Wednesday (May 15, 2019). Under the Omnibus Rules on Campaign Finance, failure to submit SOCEs within six months from proclamation will stop winning candidates from assuming the duties of the post he/she had won. (PNA photo by Avito C. Dalan)

MANILA — At least five electoral protests have been filed before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) 11 days after the May 13 mid-term polls.

In a press briefing Friday, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez noted that as of noon on May 24, the electoral protests involved objections on the results of local polls.

Jimenez said petitions for local positions, such as city and provincial posts, are under the jurisdiction of the poll body while those for municipal mayor and lower posts are under the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

“We have protests from Taguig, San Juan, Leyte, Kalinga, and Negros. This is an incomplete list because there were still protests coming as of noon,” he added.

Election protests for senators and members of the House of Representatives will be under the jurisdiction of the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET), respectively.

Meanwhile, the Comelec official reported that more than 10 petitions have been filed against the plan of former National Youth Commission (NYC) chair Ronald Cardema to represent the party-list group, Duterte Youth.

“Apparently, there were a lot who filed oppositions. As of last count, there are over 10 that filed opposition.

The cases may be consolidated. It will be too time-consuming to dispose of each one, especially if they raise, substantively, the same issues,” Jimenez added.

Cardema has filed an application to become a substitute nominee after his wife and the organization’s first nominee, Ducielle Marie Suarez, withdrew their acceptance of the nomination of the group, along with four other nominees of the party-list.

Last Wednesday, the Duterte Youth was awarded one seat after getting 354,629 votes in the mid-term polls.