TWO people were killed and two were arrested on the first day of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election season, police reported Sunday.
Leonilo Arbonido, 59, chairman of Barangay Julugan 6 in Tanza, Cavite, was gunned down by motorcycle-riding suspects on Saturday. Arbonido was taken to the Emilio Aguinaldo Memorial Hospital but died while undergoing treatment.
On Sunday, a man identified as Themistocles Sulat was shot dead by a barangay kagawad, Richie Malicse, with a rifle in Barangay Busay, San Jose, Romblon.
In Bulacan, a businessman was arrested for the possession of a firearm in violation of the election gun ban. In Police Regional Office 6 Office, a male suspect was arrested for after police manning a Commission on Elections checkpoint found he was carrying a revolver in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.
More than 17,000 certificates of candidacy were filed by aspirants for the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan on the first day of the filing period on Saturday, the Comelec reported Sunday.
Based on a report submitted by 339 cities and municipalities, as of Saturday, the total number of COCs filed for the forthcoming village and youth polls was 17,481.
For the barangay elections, 13,982 COCs were filed, with 9,856 male aspirants and 4,126 female aspirants.
Those seeking the post of barangay chairman were 1,560 (male) and 426 (female). For barangay kagawad, 8,296 were male while 3,700 were female.
For the SK elections, there were 845 candidates who filed their COCs for SK chairman.
For SK kagawad, male candidates were 1,514 while female aspirants totaled 1,140.
The period for the filing of COCs will run until April 20.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the total number of barangays in the country was 42,041, as of Feb. 13.
The total number of voters is 78,017,088—57,384,446 for barangay while 20,632,642 for SK elections.
The number of polling precincts is 376,420.
Each precinct will be manned by three Board of Election Tellers or teachers.
The May 14 polls will be manual, as voters will have to right down the names of the candidates, one Punong Barangay and seven members of the Sangguniang Barangay.
For youth voters, they will be electing one chairperson and seven members of the SK for every barangay.
Out of the 5,744 election watchlist areas in the country, 3,448 barangays were identified as having intense rivalry between candidates, history of election-related violence, armed threats and partisan armed groups.
Meanwhile, 2,025 barangays also have intense rivalry between candidates, history of election related violence, and partisan armed groups.
The remaining 271 barangays are classified as highly critical areas where loose firearms and criminal gangs are prevalent.
The Bicol region has the highest number of election watch lists, followed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. PNA
