SENATOR Leila de Lima has filed a measure that seeks to prevent the abuse of the law on the substitution of candidates for the national and local elections.

Senate Bill 2461 supports the Commission on Elections’ rules that substitution due to withdrawal must be more limited in scope than substitution due to death and disqualification.

The senator denounced the practice of some parties to field “placeholders” or to nominate persons who have no real intention to run for office with the clear intent of substituting a different candidate during the period provided for by law.

“In order to prevent this from happening, the Comelec should be able to determine whether these ‘placeholders’ are nuisance candidates in spite of substitution, which, in turn would void the substitution by the political party which nominated them,” she said.

“This practice of last-minute party-hopping or party-hunting during and even after the original COMELEC period for filing certificates of candidacies has ended must stop now, as it puts to shame even ordinary and regular party-hopping done several months or weeks before the filing of certificates of candidacy,” she added.

The senator stressed that the substitution in case of withdrawal shall be made within the period designated by the Comelec which shall be prior to the printing of the ballots.

“Kailangang matigil na ang ganitong sistema ng panlilinlang sa taumbayan ng mga indibidwal at partidong akala mo ay kontrolado nila ang batas kung kanilang paglaruan at paikut-ikutin,” De Lima stressed.