THE eight-day filing of certificates of candidacy has elapsed, and so we now have the first list of names that we expect to see in the ballot. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will have to process these certificates, hear any petition for disqualification coming from oppositors, and finalize the list in a layout that suits the ballot before it is printed.
The poll body said a total of 374 aspirants filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) and certificates of nomination – certificates of acceptance of nomination (CON-CAN) for the senatorial and party-list races in the midterm elections.
The Commission reported that the figure above includes 184 candidates for senator and 190 party-list groups. On the last day of filing, a total of 57 senatorial bets and 53 party-list groups beat the deadline for filing, which was held at The Manila Hotel Tent City in Manila.
‘Promises of whole-heartedly delivering service to the public dominated the political narrative, as if all these campaign promises could be delivered at all.’
These numbers are just for the national positions open in the 2025 elections. The local positions from representatives to mayors and governors, provincial board members, and city and municipal vice mayors and councilors will blow up the numbers considerably. This means thousands of Filipinos are dreaming of winning elective positions, in their sudden epiphany to give vent to their all-consuming desire to serve Filipinos in various localities.
It has always been said that the more, the merrier. Putting it in the context of the elections, the more candidates seeking public office, the more choices the people have, and chances would be good that the right leaders would get elected.
This is, of course, untrue in the case of Philippine elections.
Running a cursory browse on the list of candidates for senator, we see old names of politicians trying to convert their regional political dominance into the national level; familiar showbiz personalities, such as Nora Aunor and Willie Revillame, who have decided to test the waters in politics after a couple of decades of dilly-dallying; incumbent and comebacking senators who profess their desire to continue serving the people; Cabinet members of the present and past administrations, who perhaps miss the power and perks of being seated in high government offices; and media personalities who believe their own propaganda and whose claim to fame is anchored on years of TV and radio exposures.
We notice in this election season that the word “service” or its more popular Tagalog translation, “serbisyo” is the word that every other candidate is swearing upon. Promises of whole-heartedly delivering service to the public dominated the political narrative, as if all these campaign promises could be delivered at all.
Aside from Revillame, among the last filers for senator were Sagip party-list Rep. Dante Marcoleta, former Commission on Audit commissioner Heidi Mendoza, detained Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Apollo Quiboloy, former senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, and former Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez.
After the noise and the hoopla, after the dust of excitement had settled, it is ultimately the voters who will vet and pass judgment on the candidates. Many of them are there for the power and privilege that go with high office, yet some principled men and women can also be found, if you patiently sift the chaff from the grain.
Voters will have enough time to do the vetting from now until election day on May 12, 2025.
