Comelec expects high number of hotspots for May barangay, youth polls

April 23, 2018

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) expects the number of election hotspots to be high for the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.

Acting Comelec chairman Al Parreño said in an interview this is because those contending for the posts live in the same community.

“The candidates are just in the same area and live in the same barangay so more incidents will have to be monitored,” said Parreño.

He said Comelec have asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) to implement checkpoints.

“We want a strict implementation of the checkpoints in accordance with our established guidelines and protocols,” said Parreño.

Over the weekend, the PNP identified 7,544 election hotspots in the country.

As of April 21, Comelec said a total of 1,140,987 filers of certificates of candidacy (COCs) for all barangay and SK posts.

Of the total COCs filed, Comelec said there are 722,081 for barangay elections, including 87,127 running for barangay chairman and 634,954 running for barangay kagawad.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said there were 418,906 COCs filed for the SK elections, including 83,127 for SK chairman and 335,779 gunning for SK kagawad.

“(It's) Important to note that these stats reflect the number of COCs filed, not the official candidates yet,” said Jimenez.

To be contested in the May 14 polls are 41,948 each for barangay chairman and SK chairman; and 293,636 each for barangay kagawad and SK kagawad. DMS