BACOLOD City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the city had limited accepting certificates of candidacy (COCs) yesterday afternoon.
The heavy influx in the morning prompted Comelec personnel to advise some of the aspiring candidates to go back to the office the following day.
City Election Officer MavilSia attributed the great number of COC filers to a fengshui belief.
Siasaid the aspiring candidates believed that April 18 is a “lucky day” for them to file their COCs, thus promising victory in the upcoming barangay and SangguniangKabataan(SK) elections this May.
Areas surrounding the Comelec office were also crowded with supporters from different barangays.
Sia said they were not able to accommodate COC filers who went to the office in the afternoon. She advised some of them to “go to the church and pray” instead.
Moreover, Sia reminded the aspiring candidates to make sure that the requirements in filing the COCs are complete before going to the Comelec office.
This is to avoid delays, she stressed.
Comelec records showed that 577 have already filed their COCs between April 14 and 17.
Of the number, 46 are running for village chief, 414 for barangay kagawad, 22 for SK chairperson, and 95 for SK kagawad.
The last day of COC filing is on April 20. The campaign period will be from May 4 to 12./PN
