Unopposed candidates in the May 2022 polls are not automatic winners.
This is because an unopposed candidate needs at least one vote in order to win.
Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Luie Guia explained the reason for this.
"Kailangan 'elected' talaga siya. Pag wala vote, walang basis to say may mandate siya. Paano kung ayaw sa kanya. Pero kung special election to fill a vacancy, di na kailangan ng election pag isa lang ang kandidato. (The person needs to be 'elected.' If there is no vote, there is no basis for his mandate. What if you don't like the person? But if there is a special election to fill a vacancy, there is no need for an election if there is only one candidate)," he said in an interview.
Poll lawyer Romulo Macalintal also said the same thing.
"If there is no vote, the person is not elected by the people," he said.
Data from the poll body showed that of the 18,023 local seats that are up for grabs in the May 2022 polls, 832 of them are unopposed.
The number of unopposed candidates are the following:
39 for Member, House of Representatives; 9 for Provincial Governor; 7 for Provincial Vice Governor; 36 for Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan; 200 City/Municipal Mayor; 254 City/Municipal Vice Mayor; and 274 for City/Municipal Councilors.
The data is as of March 25, 2022.
Most of these unopposed bets are from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (143), followed by Western Visayas (99), Cordillera Administrative Region (79), Eastern Visayas (73) and Northern Mindanao (66).
There are also more male candidates running unopposed in the upcoming local polls than females.
Of the more than 800 unopposed candidates at the local level, 645 or 77.52 percent are males.
Unopposed female candidates, on the other hand, totalled 187 or 22.48 percent.
The number of unopposed male candidates for each elective position are the following:
27 for Member, House of Representatives; 7 for Provincial Governor; 7 for Provincial Vice Governor; 36 for Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan; 154 City/Municipal Mayor; 208 City/Municipal Vice Mayor; and 206 for City/Municipal Councilors.
For unopposed female candidates 12 for Member, House of Representatives; 2 for Provincial Governor; 4 for Provincial Vice Governor; 9 for Member, Sangguniang Panlalawigan; 46 City/Municipal Mayor; 46 City/Municipal Vice Mayor; and 68 for City/Municipal Councilors.
There are 18,023 local seats that are up for grabs in the May 2022 polls.
During the 2016 polls, a total of 545 candidates were unopposed while in the 2019 polls, 547 candidates have no political opponent.