Poll exec: 2 more may make it to list of presidential hopefuls

Two more candidates may join the eight other presidential hopefuls whose candidacies have been approved by the Commission on Elections, a poll official said. "Maybe for the position of president, two more will be added," said Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer in an interview. He, however, refused to divulge who the candidates might be. On December 15, the poll body approved the candidacies of eight presidential, eight vice presidential and 58 senatorial candidates running in the 2010 polls. [See: Comelec OKs candidacies of 8 presidential, 8 VP, and 58 senatorial bets] Those deemed qualified by the Comelec to seek the presidency were Senators Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III (Liberal Party), Richard J. Gordon (Bagumbayan), Manuel B. Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party), and Maria Ana Consuelo "Jamby" A.S. Madrigal (Independent); John Carlos "JC" Delos Reyes (Ang Kapatiran), former President Joseph M. Ejercito Estrada (Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino – UNO), Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), Eddie C. Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas). The candidacies of 91 others were not accepted by the poll body, including those of environmentalist Nicanor Perlas and former lawmaker Mark Jimenez. Both have asked the poll body to reconsider its decision. Commissioner Rene Sarmiento had earlier said that those excluded from the list were not necessarily nuisance candidates but were seen to be incapable of launching a nationwide campaign. In seeking a reversal of the Comelec ruling, Perlas asserted that he has 700 coordinators "on the ground." "It's almost like a de facto party," Perlas said. Ferrer thinks otherwise. "He claims that he is supported by several parties...he didn't show that to us." On Jimenez's claim that he has resources to fund a nationwide campaign, Ferrer retorted that "this doesn't mean that he has actual followers on the field." The Comelec had earlier said it will come out with the final list of candidates by the end of this week. But the poll body has yet to resolve a number of motions for reconsideration and disqualification cases. "We will resolve [all of those]," Ferrer said, referring to the pending motions for reconsideration and disqualification cases lodged against certain candidates. He also said that they will probably come out with the list of party-list groups qualified to run in next year’s polls by the first week of February because the poll body could not screen all of them right away. “Masyado silang marami (There’s too many of them)," he said. - Kimberly Tan/RSJ, GMANews.TV