TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that votes that will be cast in favor of a disqualified candidate will be considered as stray and will not be counted in his or her favor during the canvassing of votes right for the May 12, 2025 mid-term elections.
Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Ricardo Lampac pointed out that whatever ruling of the Commission en banc disqualifying aspirants for various elected positions rendered prior to the conduct of the May 12 polls will include instructions to consider the votes cast for the said aspirant to be stray and will not be included in the canvassing of votes in his or her favor.
Earlier, the Comelec’s Second Division disqualified an aspirant for city councilor in the upcoming May 12, 2025 mid-term elections after finding that he allegedly committed material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy (COC).
In a 6-page resolution signed by Presiding Commissioner Rey E. Bulay and Commissioner Nelson J. Celis, the poll body found lawyer Errol Bangloy Comafay, an aspirant for city councilor in the upcoming elections, to have willfully sought to mislead and misinform both the poll body and the electorate of Tabuk by falsely asserting his eligibility for the said position.
“His (Comafay) deliberate misrepresentation of material facts in his COC constitutes blatant disregard for the integrity of the electoral process. As a direct consequence of such material misrepresentation, he shall be declared ineligible to run for the office for which he filed his COC,” the resolution stressed.
For his part, Comafay filed a motion for reconsideration seeking the reversal of the said decision which is now pending evaluation and assessment by the Commission en banc.
Lampac claimed that the Provincial Election Office will await further instructions from the poll body in relation to this matter as soon as the Commission en banc shall have ruled on it probably within the next several months prior to the conduct of the mid-term elections.
According to him, if the poll body’s decision is to uphold the Second Division’s earlier ruling, the involved party must be safe to secure a temporary restraining order (TRO) from the Supreme Court (SC) prior to the canvasing of votes so that whatever votes that will be cast in his favor will still be counted pending the final resolution of the case.
On the other hand, he explained that if the Commission en banc will uphold the decision and the involved party fails to secure the necessary TRO, then the votes cast in his favor will be considered stray and will not be counted in his favor.
During the filing of certificates of candidacy, some fourteen aspirants have signified their intention to be elected as among the 10 members of the city council.
Three of the aspirants withdrew their respective certificates of candidacy for the said position where said withdrawals were officially submitted to the poll body for consideration as some were filed beyond the period to withdraw.
At present, there are only 11 remaining aspirants for city councilor that includes the disqualified candidate. By Dexter A. See
