By Mike Crismundo
BUTUAN CITY - A total of 41, 348 candidates in Northeastern Mindanao or Caraga region had filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on May 14.
Map of Caraga (Credits: Google Map | Manila Bulletin file photo)
In an exclusive interview with the Manila Bulletin today, Atty. Francisco Pobe, regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec 13), said the data covered the seven-day filing of COCs or from April 14 to 20.
“The seven-day filing of COCs was totally orderly and peaceful and everything is on the go for the May 14 polls,” the region’s Comelec chief said.
He said there are 2, 278, 031 total number of registered voters for both Barangay and SK per clustered/grouped precinct in Caraga region, where only 1, 311 slots for barangay chairmen are at stake.
Of the total number, 2, 891 are running for village chairmen, 22, 559 are running for the barangay kagawads (councilmen) while 2, 953 for SK chairmen and 12, 945 are running for SK kagawads.
For the barangay chairmen positions, Surigao del Norte has the highest number of candidates with a total of 719, followed by Agusan del Sur with a total of 700 candidates.
Pobe reiterated that the filing remains peaceful although some areas in the region encountered only minor problems. He did not elaborate.
He added that after the end of the filing of COCs, administrative works like encoding of names of candidates and other necessary information need to be done.
All Comelec provincial supervisors will personally deliver all COCs and logbooks to their main office on or before the April 25 deadline, Pobe added.