Thirty aspirants for village chief in Iloilo City are just one vote away from being declared winners of the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, data from the Iloilo Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed.
In an interview, Election Assistant II Jonathan Sayno said 27 out of the 30 “are already unopposed after the closing of the filing of COC [certificate of candidacy],” while three had opponents who withdrew later.
Sayno said while they only need one vote to win, their supporters are all encouraged to cast their votes to ensure their clear mandate.
Of the unopposed, 20 are incumbent barangay captains, he noted.
Meanwhile, Comelec provincial election supervisor, lawyer Reiner Layson, said they are in the process of serving the order of cancellation of COC in one barangay in Iloilo City, in line with a petition declaring the aspirant as a nuisance candidate.
“The effect would be an eventual disqualification for the position that is applied, which is the punong barangay,” he said.
A send-off ceremony was held yesterday for over 600 uniformed personnel, composed of 282 from the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), 80 from the Philippine Coast Guard, 100 from the 61st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, and 160 from the Bureau of Fire Protection, complete with logistics.
They are responsible for securing 63 polling centers in Iloilo City.
In a press conference, ICPO director, Colonel Joeresty Coronica said they also augmented the personnel assigned to Aklan, Antique, and Iloilo provinces as requested by the Police Regional Office 6 (Western Visayas).
Meanwhile, the Comelec on Thursday afternoon, October 26, conducted a mock election to simulate the electoral process in the province and city of Iloilo on Monday, October 30.
“We are four days away from the elections, the [Comelec] province of Iloilo and the city of Iloilo declare that we are all systems go. We are only praying for fair weather on Monday, so our electoral board members and voters won’t have difficulty going to voting centers and in the deployment of our election forms, supplies, and paraphernalia, especially in island barangays,” Layson said. (PNA)