MANILA, Philippines – While the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can allow candidates to withdraw from the presidential race, the candidate who withdraws cannot automatically transfer his or her votes to another bet.

“Wala naman pong nagbabawal na umatras ang isang kandidato, kaya lang hindi po puwedeng basta-bastang ibibigay ‘yung mga boto nu’ng kandidatong ‘yon doon sa kandidatong kanyang napangakuan,” Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said in an interview with GMA News on Friday evening, May 6.

(Nothing stops a candidate from withdrawing, but we cannot simply give the votes for that candidate to another candidate to whom he or she promised votes.)

If any candidate withdraws, Bautista added, votes for that candidate will still be counted.

There’s no way to erase names from more than 56 million ballots already printed as early as April 9.

Votes for the candidate who withdrew, however, will be declared as stray votes.

Bautista made these comments after President Benigno Aquino III himself called on candidates to unite against the leading presidential bet, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

‘Let politics take its course’

A Duterte presidency is feared to repeat the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, under whose watch Aquino’s father, Benigno Jr, was assassinated.

Administration standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II also called for unity between him and his rival, Senator Grace Poe, as “uncertainty and the specter of a dictatorship are looming over our country once again.”

Poe, however, said they have nothing to talk about, and she has no plans to withdraw.

Bautista said the Comelec remains neutral on talks between Roxas and Poe.

“Hayaan na lang natin ang pulitika na gumanap, tapos titingnan na lang natin kung anong magiging resulta,” he said in his television interview.

(Let us allow politics to take its course, then let us see the results.) – Rappler.com