Questions about a standee on offices of the Commission on Elections were raised online as electoral aspirants file their certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2025 midterm elections.
The COC filing, which marks the opening of the election season in the country, is being held until October 8.
Senatorial and party-list representative aspirants can file at the Manila Hotel’s Tent City, while local applicants can submit their COCs in different Comelec offices around the country.
As electoral aspirants officially declared their intentions to run in the upcoming polls, some Filipinos have noticed a standee set up in one of the Comelec offices, where aspirants pose for photos after submitting their COCs.
This was particularly noticed when a journalist posted a photo of veteran actress Vilma Santos-Recto filing her COC at the provincial Comelec office at the Batangas Provincial Capitol, together with her sons TV host Luis Manzano and Ryan Christian.
The “Star of All Seasons” is running for Batangas governor, with her son Luis seeking the vice governor post. Ryan, meanwhile, is aiming to represent Batangas’ Sixth District.
LOOK: Vilma Santos-Recto arrived here at the Comelec in Batangas Provincial Capitol together with her sons Luis Manzano (running for Vice-Governor) and Ryan Christian (running for representative 6th district) and filed their certificates of candidacy. pic.twitter.com/DUrEqaAFO8
— MJ Felipe (@mjfelipe) October 3, 2024
In their photo, many noticed that a standee of Comelec Chair George Garcia could be seen on the sidelines of photo-taking area, leaving online users puzzled.
“At bakit may pa-standee ka, @ChairGEGarcia?” an online user commented, zooming on the life-size figure.
“Uhmm, @COMELEC, bakit may standee ni Comelec Chair Garcia? Mukha tuloy endorser. Tsk, tsk, tsk…” another Pinoy asked.
“Ba’t may standee,” commented a different user.
A standee is a life-size display usually used for promotional purposes in marketing.
Some brands have standees of celebrity endorsers in their branches in order to draw more customers.
Meanwhile, electoral aspirants have until October 8 to file their COCs in the upcoming polls.
The 2025 national and local elections are set for May 12.
A total of 18,280 elective posts are up for grabs, with 12 available seats in the Senate, 63 seats for party-list representatives, and 254 seats in the House of Representatives.
Other vacancies are for local government unit posts.
The elections allow Filipinos to exercise their right to vote for new leaders or reelect public officials who they think are worthy of leading people.
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