Very low turnout on first day of COC filing

Only five individuals submitted certificates of candidacy (COC) for the position of councilor with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the first day of COC filing on Friday, local election officers said. As many as 10 out of the 16 cities in the National Capital Region received no COCs for mayor, vice mayor, and city councilor, according to election officers from the various Comelec field offices in Metro Manila. Only the field offices in Manila and Quezon City received COCs from individuals gunning to become councilors in 2010. These individuals – two from Manila and three from Quezon City – were all independent and relatively unknown, election officers in these areas said. The Comelec field offices in the rest of the cities and in the town of Pateros were visited by individuals who just asked for copies of COCs and for the list of requirements. “Humingi lang sila ng kopya ng COCs, tapos hindi na rin bumalik. Usually naman last day lang kami busy (They just asked for copies of COCs and did not return. Usually, we only get busy during the last days of filing)," said election assistant Noemi Salita of the Comelec field office in San Juan.

Loida de Ocampo, election assistant from the first district of Makati, said that the low turnout of candidates is just normal during the first few days of COC filing. “Alam naman natin ang Pilipino. Palaging humahabol lang kapag last day na (We know Filipinos have this practice of getting things done right before the deadline)," she said. Jessica Cabrera, acting election officer of the Comelec field office in Pasay City said the low turnout of local candidates who filed their COCs during the first day may be because of Comelec’s warning on premature campaigning. “Iniiwasan nila muna magfile kasi tinatanggal muna nila ‘yung posters nila bago magfile para hindi sila maakusahan ng premature campaigning (They avoid filing during the first few days because they remove all their posters first in their areas to avoid being accused of premature campaigning)," Cabrera said. The Comelec has reminded all those who have already filed their COCs to refrain from premature campaigning. “We remind those who have already filed their COCs to begin taking down all existing streamers and posters to avoid accusations of premature campaigning," Jimenez said. Jimenez also told celebrities who want to seek electoral posts to “be careful and exercise maximum prudence" during their media exposures. “It is okay if the appearances are newsworthy, but celebrities should exercise maximum prudence to make sure they do not run afoul of rules on premature campaigning," he said. - GMANews.TV