Thousands of aspirants for barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan posts trooped to Commission on Elections offices to file their certificates of candidacy despite heavy rains and floods brought by Typhoon Hanna on Saturday to beat the September 2 deadline.
Comelec chairman George Garcia reiterated that there will be no extension of the period for the filing of COCs for those intending to run in the October 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), except in the National Capital Region, Abra, and Ilocos Norte.
The Comelec said there will be no more extensions in the COC filing period set which ended yesterday.
According to Comelec rules, if aspirants remained within 30 meters of the designated queuing or waiting area at 5 p.m. on the last day of the COC filing, their names will be listed and consecutively numbered.
As of September 1, more than one million individuals have already filed their COCs.
Comelec data shows that a total of 1.204,,325 COCs have been filed from August 28 to 31.
Garcia said the filing will continue until Sunday after but only at the NCR, Abra, and Ilocos Norte offices.
“Due to the suspension of government work in the following areas, on account of inclement weather, the filing of COCs will be extended,” the Comelec said.
In Metro Manila, COC filing will resume on September 2 and will end on September 4.
For Abra, COC filing resumed on September 1 and will end on September 4.
The total number of contested positions for the BSKE is 42,027 village chiefs, 294,189 Sangguniang Barangay members, 42,027 SK chairmen, and 294,189 SK members.
Garcia said they did not expect a huge number of people to file their COCs at various Offices of Election Officers (OEO) nationwide on the first day of filing last August 28.