00:00The Commission on Elections will not proceed with the printing of balotas for the HATOL of BAYAN 2025 which is scheduled for tomorrow.
00:09Why? Let's find out in the story of Louisa Erispe.
00:15For the third time, the printing of balotas for the 2025 National and Local Elections has been resumed.
00:23This time, not because the Supreme Court has a new temporary restraining order and the candidate's name is being added,
00:32but because Comelec will reduce the number of candidates after Francis Leo Marcos withdraws,
00:38who is still one of the candidates given by the TRO of the SC.
00:42According to Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia, because of this, the printing of balotas will be delayed for two to three days.
00:51We have not received any notice that someone wants to withdraw or refuses to run.
00:57So far, maybe yesterday was the last, at least for the national candidates.
01:02We will resume the printing of the balotas by Monday at all costs.
01:06We have been delayed for three weeks.
01:10But because Comelec has been delaying the printing for several weeks,
01:14some are questioning why Comelec will not include the disqualified and nuisance candidates in the balotas.
01:21Comelec's answer is that the law will be followed here.
01:25If we will allow everyone who applied should include their names,
01:29we are not talking about practicality here, we are talking about the rule of law, the law.
01:35If we will not remove them, why did we make the decision? Our decision is already in front of us.
01:40Aside from the question of why the nuisance and disqualified candidates will not be included,
01:44some are also wondering that maybe there is something wrong with the numbering of the candidates in the balotas being printed first.
01:52Like the number of the re-election of Senator Bong Revilla, who entered No. 11,
01:58and his screen name became Bong instead of Revilla.
02:02Comelec just said that this is a long-standing decision of the court,
02:06and this is not a new thing because like when he ran in 2019, he already used the name Bong in the balotas.
02:13In 2009, his name was changed. In our Civil Code of the Philippines,
02:19a person's name can really be changed, especially if there are reasons.
02:23The reasons are enumerated there, and the court has a lot of decisions on why you can change your name.
02:31Comelec denied that there is nothing wrong with the printing of the balotas first.
02:36They are just in favor of the Supreme Court's decision.
02:39Even though Comelec was delayed in printing, the mock elections will continue tomorrow,
02:44which will be held all over the country.
02:46What he will use here is not real balotas.
02:50Luisa Erispe for Pambansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
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