642,000 seats at stake
MANILA, Philippines — Over two million aspirants for the upcoming barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) are expected to file their certificates of candidacy nationwide, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said during the first day of COC filing yesterday.
Garcia said 642,000 positions are up for grabs in the upcoming BSKE.
He said the Comelec did not anticipate the huge number of aspirants trooping to different Offices of Election Officers (OEO) nationwide on the first day of filing yesterday.
Some aspirants, he said, started lining up at OEOs as early as 4 a.m. Even with the long line of filers, Garcia said the first day of COC filing was generally peaceful and orderly.
He noted that there were aspirants who attempted to submit fake documents before the Comelec.
“We said fake documents must be confiscated so we can file cases. They think we won’t counter check and we will be lax in checking,” Garcia noted in Filipino.
The COC filing, which started yesterday and would last until Sept. 2, is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the Comelec.
An unexpected high number of aspirants flocked yesterday to different Comelec offices nationwide to file their COCs for the Oct. 30 BSKE, according to Comelec spokesman John Rex Laundiangco.
“Many of our countrymen filed their COC, not just in Metro Manila but all over the country,” Laudiangco reported in Filipino during the Laging Handa public briefing.
“Although we did not expect this many would file on the first day, we are happy that democracy is alive, as evidenced by the eagerness of our countrymen to participate in the BSKE,” Laundiango added.
Aspirants started lining up to file their COCs hours before the Comelec offices opened, Laudiangco said, noting that some candidates believed that Aug. 28 is a lucky day to file their COCs.
“They were excited because it has been long since we had barangay elections, the last was 2018. They want to file immediately. They don’t want to be late because they don’t want any problems with their candidacy,” he added.
To accommodate the large number of people, the Comelec opted to transfer the venue of filing of COC in big malls. He said partner malls allowed the use of their facilities for free.
Despite the high number of aspirants, Laudiangco declared the first of day of COC filing as orderly and peaceful with no untoward incident recorded.
Laudiangco reminded those who have already filed their COC to remove tarpaulins, posters and any other campaign materials or they face charges of premature campaigning. Candidates are also prohibited from mounting motorcades after the filing of COC as this is considered a form of direct and indirect campaign.
Disorder
In Manila, both the Comelec and the candidates apparently got overwhelmed with the huge turnout of aspirants wanting to file their COCs during the first day of filing yesterday.
Some candidates lined up as early as 7 a.m. yesterday, according to Ronnie Liwanag, who seeks reelection as kagawad or council member of Barangay 129 Zone 11 in Balut, Tondo.
Four shopping malls have been designated by Comelec to hold the COC submission – SM Manila, SM San Larazo, Robinsons Place Manila and Robinsons Otis. While there were signboards indicating each district where candidates should queue, the crowd became disorderly as they all wanted to get inside, Liwanag recalled.
The presence of policemen did not help in controlling the crowd. According to videos shared by news outlets, the candidates forced their way inside the mall, pushing each other, just to be able to file their COCs early.
Before noon, personnel from the Comelec and mall security declared COC filing has reached cutoff. The announcement irritated the candidates who asserted they lined up so early but were suddenly left out.
As of 1 p.m. yesterday, each of the Comelec-Manila’s Districts 1, 2 and 4 offices could have received over a thousand COCs yesterday, and was still accommodating more hours before the supposed 5 p.m. deadline, according to District 4 election officer Edison Teodoro.
He added each of Manila’s six districts expects an estimated 6,000 COC submissions for all barangay and SK positions during the week-long COC filing period.
Due to the large number of aspirants, Comelec-Manila had to cut off the COC filing. Those who lined up in the afternoon were advised to just return the next day.
Garcia said their office in Manila could not accommodate all those who came on the first day of COC filing.
“Those who were listed in the morning are worth three days of COCs. It can’t be done in a day, to think it’s only until 5 p.m.” Garcia explained.
Support
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos assured the support of the DILG and the entire Philippine National Police (PNP) to the Comelec as the week-long filing of COC for the BSKE began yesterday.
“The directive has always been to coordinate, we are always coordinating with Comelec here as in this case, Comelec has the jurisdiction,” Abalos said in an interview with The STAR.
Abalos added that the PNP, particularly the regional directors, are providing inputs to the Comelec, particularly on areas where there is are incidences of violence.
In the Calabarzon region, more than 8,532 police officers will be deployed in the different polling precincts and other areas to ensure peaceful and orderly BSKE, according to Calabarzon spokesperson Lt. Col Chitadel Gaoiran.
Motorcycles, mobile cars, motorboats, handheld radio, smartphones and body cameras will be provided for all the policemen while they are rendering election duties for the BSKE.
Multiple support agencies – composed of Bureau of Jail and Penology, Police-Military, Bureau of Fire and Protection and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) – were also assembled in a send off ceremony for security forces in Camp Vicente Lim police command yesterday.
The PCG on Monday began providing augmentation security teams nationwide to ensure peace and order during the start of the election period for the BSKE.
PCG spokesman Rear Admiral Armand Balilo said that all security law enforcement units have been directed to assist in the security operations.
“Since the election season for the barangay and SK have already started, we would be activating our task force for the election,” Balilo added. — Ed Amoroso, Ghio Ong, Evelyn Macairan