ILOILO City – Between 6,000 to 7,000 aspirants are projected to file their certificates of candidacy (COC) for the October barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections here.
“Gina-isip naton, ang Iloilo City may 180 barangays, sa isa ka barangay may isa ka line-up or group nga complete ang slate including SK. So, i-multiply lang naton ang 16 candidates sa one group sa 180 barangays. Ang opposing group naman kon complete ang 16 slots [candidates], and wala labot sang independent candidate nga maga-file,” assistant election officer Jonathan Sayno told Panay News on Sunday afternoon.
A barangay council is composed of one barangay captain and seven councilors, while the SK has one chairperson and seven councilors.
In anticipation of the influx of aspirants, the City Commission of Elections (Comelec) designated one receiving table per district.
Iloilo City has seven districts: City Proper, Arevalo, Molo, Mandurriao, Jaro, La Paz, and Lapuz.
The Iloilo City-Comelec could accommodate 350 aspirants at a time, but Sayno expects aspirants would not come all at once, adding some have beliefs for good luck based on feng shui, date or hours of filing their candidacy.
COCs are accepted from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. with no noon break, from Monday to Saturday (Aug. 28 to Sept. 2) at cinemas 5 and 6, third floor of Robinsons Place (Main) on Ledesma Street.
“Kon magkadto ang aspirants, ma-proceed sila sa car park sa second floor. Masaka dira and pag-abot sa taytay sa entrance may pulongkoan nga ginpreparar kon aga ka pa,” said Sayno.
Aspirants are reminded to prepare at least six COC forms; the Comelec will gather three copies, and another two copies will be notarized.
All fields in the form must be duly accomplished, or if the information being asked does not apply, write “Not Applicable.”
Any erasure must have a specimen signature.
Aspirants should bring bottled water, snacks, a ballpen, and fluid correction.
Although aspirants have filed their COCs, Sayno emphasized they should not yet engage in campaigning. The campaign period is from Oct. 19 to 28.
“Kon naga-kampanya kana da kag waay pa period sang campaign, ginatawag na nga premature campaign. Isa ina ka offense sa election law nga may imprisonment nga one to six years kag kon file-an kada may disqualification pa gid. So, dapat indi na naton ma-violate ina,” said Sayno./PN
