Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr is the only aspirant with that surname left on the list after a certain Ma. Aurora Marcos was declared a nuisance candidate. The poll body also earlier removed Tiburcio Marcos from its roll.
The move was lauded by Marcos’ camp.
“We give it to the members of this august body for seeing through the schemes and machinations of certain political camps to make a mockery of the electoral process,” said Marcos’ spokesperson Atty. Vic Rodriguez.
Hilario Andes, Danilo Lihaylihay, and Edgar Niez were also removed, leaving only 11 names on the list of presidential bets.
Former Palace spokesperson Ernesto Abella, labor leader Leody de Guzman, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, former Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, Senators Ping Lacson and Manny Pacquiao, Jose Montemayor, and Vice President Leni Robredo are the only names included in the list of presidential aspirants.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 6)— The Commission on Elections on Thursday further trimmed the tentative list of aspirants for the upcoming national elections.
Race for VP, Senate
Nine aspirants remain in the vice presidential race, while 64 names are in the running for the senatorial race.
Comelec is targeting to release the final list of candidates this Friday.
There are no fines nor sanctions for those declared as nuisance candidates other than disqualification from the immediate polls. Comelec, however, supported stiffer penalties on anyone found to be a nuisance candidate, as proposed in a House of Representatives bill. The same issue is now being tackled in the Senate.
CNN Philippines correspondent Melissa Lopez contributed to this report.
