NO MORE POLLS. Comelec officials led by chairman George Garcia (3rd from left) hold a press briefing in Manila on Wednesday (Nov. 8, 2023). The poll body announced that it has scrapped the special polls in the third district of Negros Oriental, in compliance with a resolution from the House of Representatives. (Photo courtesy of Comelec)

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday announced the cancellation of the special polls in the 3rd District of Negros Oriental province slated to be held on Dec. 9.

Comelec chairperson George Garcia said this is in response to the decision of the House of Representatives to withdraw its call to hold such polls to replace expelled representative Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr., the prime suspect in the killing of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.

The cancellation also came amid the period for the filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COC) for the special elections, which began on Monday and was supposed to run until Nov. 11.

“In view of the foregoing, we submit that House Resolution No. 136, which called for the conduct of the special election in the 3rd Legislative District of the Province of Negros Oriental is deemed recalled and abandoned upon passage of House Resolution No. 154,” Garcia said in press briefing.

“Therefore, in recognition of the legislative power of Congress, the Law Department and the En Banc decided to cancel the conduct of the special election in the 3rd Legislative District of the Province of Negros Oriental, and for the Commission to discontinue its ongoing preparations for the said special election.”

He said they received the House resolution on Wednesday afternoon.

Garcia noted that directives have already been sent out to their concerned field personnel regarding the cancellation.

“We are directing the Regional Director of the Commission on Elections in the region, Commission on Elections Supervisor of Negros Oriental, including all Election Officers to inform all the parties, including all the citizen’s arm, interest groups, and stakeholders that the special elections in Negros Oriental will no longer push through,” he added.

In its Resolution 154, the House called on the commission to “reconsider” the conduct of the special election for the 3rd Legislative District of Negros Oriental.

According to the House, one of the reasons is the Petition for Certiorari filed by Teves before the Supreme Court questioning his expulsion.

Garcia reported that they have already spent for the December special polls but not yet “in the millions.”

The budget for the special polls is PHP75 million, he added.

“We just finished the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections so we are just starting to shift our focus in preparing for the Negros Oriental special polls,” Garcia explained.

Meanwhile, the certificates of candidacy (COCs) filed earlier by three poll bets for the third congressional seat have been deemed moot and academic following the cancellation of the special elections.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, the Comelec regional election director of Central Visayas, told the Philippine News Agency in an interview that they are awaiting official written communication from the en banc so they can officially serve it to the three aspirants who filed their COCs Tuesday and early Wednesday.

The three aspirants, all running as independent, are retired Navy Col. Reynaldo Lopez, former Governor Pryde Henry Teves, and incumbent Bacong Mayor Lenin Alviola.

Lopez filed his COC Tuesday, while Teves and Alviola lodged theirs on Wednesday morning.

“The en banc has ordered us to cease all operations and we are just awaiting a special order from Comelec Manila to serve this resolution to parties concerned,” Castillano said. (PNA)