A PROFESSOR from the Faculty of Civil Law is running for senator in next year’s midterm polls after election officials declared him eligible for candidacy along with 32 others.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has approved the candidacy of lawyer Samson Alcantara for the 2013 elections, citing his prominence and capability to launch a nationwide campaign.
“[Comelec requires] at least the capability to launch a nationwide campaign and capability to participate actively in the legislative process. We are not nuisance candidates,” Alcantara told the Varsitarian.
According to Rule 24, Resolution No. 9523 of the Comelec rules and procedures, “the certificate of candidacy of a nuisance candidate will be denied or cancelled.”
A candidate is declared nuisance when he “puts the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters or who by other acts or circumstances is clearly demonstrated to have no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed.”
Comelec had weeded out 50 nuisance candidates, narrowing the senatorial bets to 33.
Alcantara, 77, who has been teaching Labor Law in UST for 40 years, was nominated by the party-list Social Justice Society, where he is president.
“If I am elected, I would enact legislation that would refine laws for the purpose of promoting labor employment and responsibility between the employer and the employee,” Alcantara said.
‘Neutral and apolitical’
Alcantara said he had informed Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina of his senatorial aspirations. “I have informed him a long time ago and he is very supportive,” Alcantara said.
Divina, however, said neither the faculty nor the University can officially endorse him. “[The faculty will support him], in their individual capacities, not their official capacities… given that the University [is] neutral and apolitical,” Divina said.
If he wins, Alcantara must resign his teaching post. The law mandates the private sector not to employ a person elected to public office, Divina said.
