by Paulyn Stephanie Bacani

The filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the barangay election 2013 officially ended on October 17 with approximately 470 registered candidates for the 14 districts of Los Baños.  Most of the candidates are re-electionists.

According to Randy Banzuela, COMELEC Election Officer of Los Baños, this year’s filing of COC went smoothly.  Police officers were present during the duration of COC filing to ensure peace and safety in the Municipal Office. Rendell Villanueva, Administrative Staff of the Municipal Office’s Action Center, added that there were crowds of people and supporters of the candidates, particularly on the first day.

The campaign period began on October 18.  As candidates who have filed their COCs are bound by the rules of COMELEC, Banzuela encouraged everyone to report candidates who conducted premature campaigning.   Those who will be proven to have violated the rules will be disqualified from this year’s elections.

Banzuela added that there would be changes in the process of voting. Instead of putting only the names of candidates per barangay, COMELEC Los Baños initiated the inclusion of pictures in the secrecy folders. He explained that COMELEC Los Baños came up with this idea because most of the voters only know the candidates by face and not by their names. Banzuela added, “Kami lang ang gagawa ‘non.”

The Barangay elections will be held on October 28, Monday.