Coin toss decides fate of 2 SK bets

MANILA, Philippines — Luck – not the number of votes – spelled victory or defeat for some candidates in last Monday’s elections for the Sangguniang Kabataan or youth council.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said Electoral Boards (EBs) in some barangays had to resolve cases of draw or tie by coin toss.

This decided the fate of SK candidates Ivan James Centeñales and Kristille Mae Endaya in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, who both obtained 272 votes.

They held each other’s hands as poll personnel flipped a coin to decide who between them would get the last spot for Barangay Caloocan’s SK Kagawad seat.

Centeñales won the coin toss, with no objections from the losing candidate and her supporters.

Another winning SK candidate, Jeanie Roe Alfonga, shared a video with ABS-CBN News of her and her rival breaking the tie through coin toss. She said she and her rival were even laughing during the toss.

Garcia said tossing coins or drawing lots are allowed under election rules to resolve a tie during elections.

“We instructed the regional directors to proclaim the winners at all cost, without delays or suspension,” he said.

Garcia said the electoral tie resulted in the delay of the proclamation of winning barangay and SK candidates in some parts of the country.

He said electoral boards were under instructions to immediately supervise toss coin or drawing of lots to resolve electoral ties. Winning candidates were to have been proclaimed last night, he said.

Only winning candidates with pending disqualification cases shall not be proclaimed, he said.