Ministerial duty of receiving and acknowledging receipts.
Section 20
SEC. 20. Ministerial duty of receiving and acknowledging receipts.—The Commission, Provincial Election Supervisor or City or Municipal Election Registrar shall have the ministerial duty to receive the certificates of candidacy referred to herein as well as nominations of registered pelitical parties or coalition of such parties and to immediately acknowledge receipt thereof: Provided, That in all cases the Commission may motu proprio or upon a verified petition of a candidate or an interested party or registered political party or coalition of political parties, refuse to give due course to a certificate of candidacy if it is shown, after the person who filed such certificate shall have been given the opportunity to be heard, that said certificate has been presented and filed to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates, together with other circumstances which demonstrate that the candidate has no bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filed and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate: and Provided, finally, That no case shall be initiated either motu proprio by the Commission or by verified petition after April 2, 1984; and all cases duly initiated or filed shall be decided by the Commission as expeditiously as possible.