6 run for Cebu gov; 72 file election bids
The race for Cebu’s gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial seats isn’t confined to the Liberal Party (LP) and One Cebu.
Three independent candidates and one man running under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) want a shot at the highest office in the Capitol.
Once the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) ended at 5 p.m. last Oct. 16, four candidates joined incumbent Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and One Cebu rival Winston Garcia in the gubernatorial derby.
For the second time, radio block time commentator Roliveth “Klasmit Boyet” Cortes filed his COC for governor.
The 50-year-old broadcaster last ran for the position in 2013 as an independent candidate. He lost with only 22,238 votes.
Leandro Boy Patalinghug, a well-known broadcast script writer, also filed his COC for governor last Friday.
Patalinghug worked as a talent, director and writer for various programs in ABS-CBN’s radio station dyAB in 1995.
He is running under the KBL, a coalition of parties which supported the late president Ferdinand Marcos.
Patalinghug also ran for elective posts in Naga City and Sibonga town in previous elections.
Other independent candidates for governor include Nonito Magnanao and Desiderio Estinozo.
At the close of office hours last Friday, 72 candidates filed their COCs for provincial positions with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Cebu provincial office at the Capitol.
This includes six candidates for governor, three for vice governor, 45 for provincial board member, and 18 for member of the House of Representatives.
Comelec provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said this number could go down but that was unlikely.
“I don’t think it will decrease since we don’t have any nuisance candidates,” he told Cebu Daily News.
Castillano said copies of the COCs received by the provincial office and all other election offices in the province will be brought to the Comelec central office in Manila.
A copy will be given to the Law Department and Elections Records and Statistics Department for evaluation.
He said the number of candidates who filed their COCs for next year’s polls is more or less the same with the candidate turnout for the 2013 polls.
THREE-CORNERED FIGHT
The vice gubernatorial race will be a three-cornered fight between Nerissa Soon-Ruiz of One Cebu, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale of LP, and independent candidate Juanito Montenegro.
Cebu’s 1st district has the most number of candidates for Provincial Board (PB) member with 10.
Both LP and One Cebu did not field congressional candidates for the 1st district.
However, LP standard-bearer Mar Roxas made it clear that the administration party is supporting re-elecitonist Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas of Alayon.
The decision pushed a disappointed San Fernando Mayor Antonio Canoy to leave LP and run for the congressional seat under the National People’s Coalition (NPC) while Michael Nunez will run under PDP-LABAN.
The congressional seats for the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th districts also have three contenders each.
The battle for the 4th, 6th and 7th PB seats are between LP and One Cebu bets.
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