Lack of candidates may be due to anti-political dynasty

CEBU, Philippines — Three barangays of Pilar town on Camotes Islands lack the number of candidates to fill the seven SK council slots.

Pilar Election Officer Rafael Santiago told The FREEMAN that only two candidates filed their Certificate of Candidacy (COC) for SK member from Barangay Moabog, three from Barangay Biasong, and five from Barangay Imelda.

Each barangay needs to elect seven SK members and one SK chairman.

The SK chairman aspirants of Barangay Imelda and Monserrat are also uncontested.

Santiago believes that the anti-political dynasty clause could be one of the reasons why there are only few who filed their COC.

He explained that the residents of the three barangays in the island are mostly related to the incumbent barangay officials.

"Naay mga ganahan mo-file pero dili sila makadagan tungod sa degree of consanguinity sa mga incumbent officials," he said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu Province told reporters yesterday that there is still a "grey area" on this matter since there is no specific provision on the proper action to be taken in case no one will run for a position in the barangay level.

For Provincial Election Officer Atty. Ferdinand Gujilde, the town mayor is the one who will appoint the SK members in the event that there are vacancies.

The appointment will be based on the recommendation of the elected SK members. Moreover, the recommended individuals must be qualified as stated in the Election Omnibus Code.

“So akong take ana, if we apply analogy, it can be done by the mayor by appointment with the recommendation (of the elected SK council members),” he said, further explaining that the appointing officer must be an official who is ‘a notch higher’ than the appointee.

Death, permanently incapacitated, resignation, and the succession of an official to a higher position are the only qualified reasons why it should be the mayor who will appoint the needed members.

“Walay gibutang diha nga walay nilansar or kulang og kandidato,” Gujilde explained.

For barangay positions, it will be the duty of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to appoint someone in the event that no one runs for a specific position.

He further clarified that uncontested candidates for both SK and barangay positions must get at least one vote before they can be proclaimed as winners. Unless this requirement is met, the sole candidate cannot be proclaimed as the winner.

Meanwhile, barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) candidates who do not want to push through with their candidacy may withdraw their Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) starting today until Friday.

As of yesterday, there are 37,892 individuals who submitted their COCs. These aspirants are from across the province including the highly urbanized cities of Cebu and Lapu-Lapu.

Of the number, 2,489 are vying to be a barangay chairman while 19,507 wants to grab a slot in the barangay council. On the other hand, there are 2,555 who join the SK chairmanship race while 13,341 want to be part of the SK council.

Comelec said that data may change in the next four days due to possible COC withdrawals. (FREEMAN)