MANILA – Over one million certificates of candidacy (COCs) were filed during the eight-day filing period in connection with the May 14 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) bared.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that as of 5 p.m. on Saturday (the last day of filing), a total of 1,140,987 COCs were received by the Offices of Election Officer (OECs) in 1,625 cities/municipalities nationwide.
A total of 722,081 COCs were filed for the village polls while 418,906 COCs were filed for the youth polls since the filing period started last April 14.
But he clarified that the number only represents the COCs filed and not yet the number of official candidates for the forthcoming polls.
“Important to note that these (statistics) reflects number of COCs filed. Not official candidates yet,” the poll body official said.
Of the number, a total of 87,127 COCs were filed for the position of barangay chairman. Male filers reached 69,163 while there were 17,964 female aspirants.
Male candidates dominated those seeking the barangay kagawad posts or 446,098 COCs as against female candidates with only 188,856 COCs.
For the SK polls, candidates aged 18 to 24 years old filed 83,127 COCs for the chairman’s post with male aspirants numbering to 52,220 and female, 30,907.
For SK kagawad, a total of 335,779 COCs were filed, with male filers totaling to 191,596 and female filers at 144,183.
Jimenez noted that though the data or the report is not yet complete, the number will not move much once all reports are in.
“That’s only 1,625 out of the 1,633 cities/municipalities. But I don’t suppose the final tally of COCs filed won’t be much different,” he explained.
Earlier, the poll body official said that after the filing period, the COCs will be transferred to the central office for evaluation.
“We need to finish it within two weeks because we have to come up with the list of official candidates,” Jimenez added. (PNA)
