More than 18,000 posts at stake in 2022 polls

MANILA, Philippines — Over 18,000 national and local elective positions are waiting to be filled in the May 2022 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported over the weekend.

In a resolution, the poll body said there are 18,180 elective positions including those in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) that are open for candidates participating in the elections set on May 9.

The slots for president and vice president top the list of the positions, followed by 12 seats for senators and 63 for party-list representatives that will be contested in the national elections.

Up for contention in the local races are 253 seats for district representatives, 81 each for governors and vice governors, 782 for provincial board members, 146 each for city mayors and vice mayors, and 1,650 for city councilors.

There will also be 1,488 seats each for municipal mayors and vice mayors as well as 11,908 for municipal councilors.

For the BARMM polls, 40 seats are open for party representatives, 32 for parliamentary district representatives and eight for sectoral representatives.

The Comelec said the party-list would constitute 20 percent of the total number of representatives, while district representatives to be contested correspond to the number of legislative districts in the country.

The number of contested positions for governors and vice governors is equal to the number of provinces.

The number of contested positions for mayors and vice mayors is equal to the number of cities and municipalities.

Regular members of the provincial board, city council and municipal council will be elected by their respective districts, the Comelec said.

In the BARMM elections, the parliament will be composed of 80 members.

But in the absence of a Bangsamoro electoral code, the Comelec said several questions remain unanswered in the conduct of parliamentary elections.

These questions include BARMM‘s apportionment into parliamentary districts, the manner of elections of the reserved and electoral seats, and the treatment of 63 barangays in North Cotabato for election purposes.