Tight fight seen in special polls

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — It’s going to be a tight fight in the June 2 special election for the vacated congressional seat in the 5th District of Negros Occidental, Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. said yesterday.

The surveys of each camp of Binalbagan town Mayor Alejandrino Mirasol and his nephew, Provincial Board Member Emilio Yulo III, revealed each of them is leading, the governor said.

There are towns where Mirasol is leading and there are towns Yulo is the winner in the surveys, he added. This early, the two appear to be the only contenders yet.

Mirasol and Yulo have not yet filed their CoCs as of yesterday however, as they were reportedly going to file on Wednesday.

The filing of certificates of candidacy for the special poll started yesterday and will be extended until today, May 16. The campaign period will run from May 17 to May 31.

The election period prescribed by the Comelec had started April 18 and will last on June 17, during which a gun ban and other electoral prohibitions are in effect in 5th District

The 5th District, which covers Himamaylan City and the towns of La Castellana, Moises Padilla, Isabela, Hinigaran and Binalbagan, has a voting population of more than 200,000 based on Comelec records.

Mirasol was endorsed both by the Liberal Party (LP) and the United Negros Alliance (UNA), whose chairman is Marañon.

Formerly belonging to Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Mirasol took his oath as LP member before LP president Mar Roxas at a provincial convention in Talisay City last March 5.

Of the five mayors in the 5th district, four are reportedly supporting the bid of Mirasol. They are Hinigaran Mayor Hermilo Aguilar, Moises Padilla Mayor Francisco Nazareno, Isabela Mayor Francis Malabor, and La Castellana Mayor Alberto Nicor—all UNA members.

Himamaylan City Mayor Agustin Ernesto Bascon, also an UNA member, pledged his support to Yulo, a cousin of his wife, saying family is more important than politics.

Meanwhile, the Comelec en banc had agreed to proceed with the special poll as scheduled despite a petition pending before the Supreme Court to stop it.

A Comelec official said the commission has already spent P3 million of the P21.6-million budget for the special election, but he said the Comelec will have to comply with the High Court if it decides in favor of the petition to postpone the special poll.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal had filed a petition before the SC for a temporary restraining order to stop the Comelec from further activities and disbursement of funds for the special election.

Macalintal, in his motion, said there is an “imperative need” to issue the TRO since the filing of certificates of candidacy for the special election will start May 14. He argued that a “caretaker” can just be appointed “to represent the constituents of the district.”

This will “prevent the apparent waste of public funds for a political issue which could easily be resolved by the designation of a ‘caretaker,’” Macalintal said. (FREEMAN)