Catanduanes has 11 gov bets

LEGAZPI CITY — Catanduanes may be the smallest among the six Bicol provinces in terms of land area, population and number of voters, but it has the most gubernatorial bets in the May polls — 11.

Records of the provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) show that five of the 10 candidates slugging it out against re-electionist Gov. Leandro Verceles Jr. belong to big clans in Virac, the capital town and the most populous of the 11 towns of the island-province, and are running as independents.

Verceles hails from Pandan, the second most populated municipality.

Reports said Verceles’ strongest contender is Joseph Chua Cua, the incumbent mayor of San Andres town and the owner of three ferry boats plying the Tabaco (Albay)-Catanduanes route.

Verceles is running under the administration party Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats (CMD), and Cua under Kampi.

Asked about the big number of gubernatorial candidates, election officer Zacarias Zaragoza said, "Our presumption if there are several candidates is that there are many people who would like to exercise their constitutional rights."

Zaragoza said the poll body may only declare a candidate a "nuisance" bet even without a complaint if there are discrepancies in the documents he has submitted.

A number of Catanduanes voters, however, said the situation must be resolved by the Comelec or the political parties to avoid the election of a "minority governor."

Catanduanes, made up of 11 municipalities, has about 112,000 registered voters, or 80,000 less than the registered voters of Camarines Norte, the second smallest province in Bicol. The figures are based on May 2002 statistics.