MANILA — The filing of Certificates of Candidacy (COCs) for aspirants in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections next month in Marawi City will start Thursday.
Based on the Calendar of Activities for the September 22 polls released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the COCs shall be filed at the Office of the Election Officer of Marawi City.
The eight-day filing period will end on August 30.
Those who would like to run for Punong Barangay and Members of the Sangguniang Barangay must be a Filipino citizen; a registered voter in the Barangay where he intends to be elected; a resident therein for at least one year immediately preceding the day of the election; able to read and write Filipino or any other local language or dialect; and at least 18 years of age on Election Day.
Meanwhile, aspirants for the posts of Sangguniang Kabataan chairman and council members must also be a Filipino citizen; a qualified voter of the Katipunan ng Kabataan (KK); a resident of the Barangay for not less than one year immediately preceding the day of the elections; at least 18 years but not more than 24 years of age on the day of the elections; able to read and write Filipino, English of the local dialect.
They must not be related within the second civil degree of consanguinity or affinity to any incumbent elected national official or to any incumbent elected regional, provincial, city, municipal or Barangay official in the locality where aspirant seeks to be elected; and must not have been convicted by final judgment of any crime involving moral turpitude.
To be elected in the forthcoming polls are one Punong Barangay and seven Members of the Sangguniang Barangay as well as one SK Chairperson and seven SK members.
Meanwhile, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez on Wednesday said they are not expecting that many people will file COCs in connection with the scheduled elections since the war-torn city is still recovering.
“We are tempering our expectations. Definitely, there will be filers. But as to how many of them will run, that will be hard to tell,” he said in a press briefing.
“It is a recovering conflict area so it is really hard to gauge the degree of readiness of the people to run for office,” Jimenez added. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
