Rodel Batocabe widow joins Daraga mayoral race

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — The widow of slain Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe will run as mayor of Daraga in  Albay this coming May elections as a substitute candidate of her husband, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) confirmed yesterday.

Albay election supervisor Romeo Serrano said Gertrudes Batocabe has complied with all the requirements needed to be declared as an official candidate for mayor of Daraga. She will run under the National Unity Party (NUP).

The town has been placed under the Comelec  control following the murder of Batocabe in December

“Now that Mrs. Batocabe has been declared by Comelec as the substitute candidate of Rodel, she can now proceed with her election activities including campaigning,” Serrano told The STAR.

The campaign period for the local posts will start on March 29.

Serrano said Gertrudes would be treated as if she was the original mayoral candidate of the NUP.

“But the name that would appear in the official ballots would still be that of her husband. That’s what the law says,” Serrano, who is also the Comelec assistant regional director in Bicol, said.

Gertrudes’ running mate is Joseph Espinas, who was with Batocabe when the lawmaker and his escort were murdered in Barangay Burgos.

The Comelec approval for the substitution came two months after Batocabe’s  murder.

Gertrudes expressed confidence that President Duterte would help her candidacy, saying this was what the Chief Executive promised her when she went to Malacañang on Jan. 31.

Other candidates for the mayoral post are Vice Mayor Victor Perete of PDP-Laban and incumbent mayor Carlwyn Baldo, who will be running as an independent after the Lakas-CMD stripped him of his nomination over allegations that he masterminded the Batocabe slay.