THE House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading a bill which seeks to make nuisance candidacy an election offense.House Bill 11317 hurdled second reading through a voice vote among lawmakers during plenary session on Tuesday.The proponents wanted to make nuisance candidacy an election offense 'as a deterrent,' Mountain Province Rep. Maximo Dalog Jr., the chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, said during the plenary discussion on the bill on Tuesday.Under the bill, anyone found guilty of the prohibited acts under Section 261 (cc) (7) of Batas Pambansa 881, or the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines, shall pay a fine of P500,000 to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).The said section lists prohibited acts which are also grounds to cancel a certificate of candidacy (COC) under Batas Pambansa 881 Section 69 on nuisance candidates.If the bill is passed into law, filing a COC to 'obtain money, profit or any other consideration' will be included as a prohibited act under Section 261 (cc) (7) and as a ground to cancel a COC under Section 69.Currently, filing a COC to 'put the election process in mockery or disrepute' is prohibited under the law.Filing a COC to 'maliciously or deliberately cause confusion among the voters by similarity of the names of the registered candidates' is also prohibited.Under Batas Pambansa 881, the Comelec may also cancel a COC if there are 'other circumstances or acts which clearly demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed.'
