Over 1 million candidates filed for BSKE 2023 so far, Comelec reports

Manila, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Saturday that more than one million candidates have filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in October. 

Comelec Chairperson George Garcia reported a peaceful start to COC filing for the BSKE polls. 

As of 10 a.m. Saturday, the commission released a report showing that 1,181,404 candidates from 82 provinces are vying for 672,016 available positions in the BSKE. Of these candidates, 65.75% are male (776,781), and 34.25% are female (404,623).

For the position of barangay chairman, with a total of 42,001 seats up for grabs, 85,796 individuals have filed their COCs. Among them, 78.47% were male, accounting for 67,321 aspirants, while 21.53% were female, with 18,475 candidates.

In the race for councilor, where 294,007 seats are available, 638,209 aspirants filed their COCs. Of these candidates, 69.77% were male, amounting to 445,258 individuals, while 30.23% were female, totaling 192,951 candidates.

The position of Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson attracted 75,434 aspirants. Among them, 64.39% were male, with 48,572 individuals, while 35.61% were female, comprising 26,862 candidates.

Nearly two million COC filers are expected by the end of the period.

Garcia said that they expected a heated election in October 2023 due to the prolonged tenure of outgoing barangay and SK officials caused by multiple postponements of village and youth council polls.

Meanwhile, the COC filing in Metro Manila was briefly suspended due to inclement weather on Thursday but it resumed on Saturday until Monday. 

In Ilocos Norte, the COC filing was extended until Sunday while the filing period in Abra would run until Monday,

Premature campaigning is prohibited, as the official campaign period will start on October 19 until 28. The BSKE elections are scheduled to be held on Oct. 30, 2023.