STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) office here has confirmed that 149 candidates for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in 10 barangays of this town are considered sure winners come May 14 polls.
Zenaida Diaz, Commission on Elections (Comelec) election officer of this town, on Tuesday said the candidates can win next month’s elections with just one vote.
Comelec record shows there are 10 unopposed candidates running for barangay captain, 70 for barangay kagawad, nine for SK chairman and 60 for SK kagawad.
“According to the candidates, they are unopposed because they have unity in this town,” Diaz said.
She noted the candidates met in a convention with local leaders prior to the filing of the certificate of candidacy (COCs) last April 14 to 21.
“They told me that they will still campaign despite their sure victory as the aspirants for barangay kagawad positions will compete in the ranking,” she added.
Comelec added that barangay chairmen of Poblacion East, Poblacion West, Salvacion, San Agustin, San Antonio, San Jose, San Marcos and Sto. Domingo are re-electionists while, only the candidates of barangays Sto. Nino and La Luna are new contenders.
Barangay Sto. Nino has no candidate for SK chairman. Only one candidate filed COC for SK kagawad, while barangay San Marcos has only three candidates for SK kagawad.
Sto. Tomas has a total of 8,102 registered voters, with 2,653 who will also vote for SK candidates.
Diaz encouraged voters to still exercise their right of suffrage, noting that “a voter will be delisted from the Comelec’s record for failure to vote in two consecutive elections.”
She also asked the unopposed candidates to serve their constituents with quality service. (Hilda Austria/PNA)
