CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Only 1,317 elective positions are up for grabs in the May 2019 polls in Central Luzon provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales, but the candidates have almost tripled in number at 3,613, data from the Commission on Elections showed.
The contest for 21 congressional districts is crowded with 47 candidates.
Reelectionist lawmakers at the second district in Bataan, the fourth district and San Jose del Monte City in Bulacan, and the first district in Tarlac are running unopposed.
Provincial legislative boards, where only 68 seats are contested, have drawn 136 aspirants.
Unopposed
Among reelectionist governors, only Susan Yap of Tarlac has no opponent. Bulacan and Nueva Ecija have eight gubernatorial candidates each.
Among candidates for vice governors, reelectionist Ma. Cristina Garcia and outgoing Pampanga Gov. Lilia Pineda are running without rivals.
A total of 326 candidates are running for mayor while 313 others are vying for vice mayor. Only 812 seats are to be filled in municipal and city councils but 2,748 want these posts.
Famiy affair
The midterm elections in Central Luzon are dominated by men, with only 675 women seeking various posts.
In Pampanga, Anney May Angeles, 25, is running for vice mayor of Sasmuan town on behalf of her father, Councilor Jesus Angeles, who was killed on Oct. 6.
The younger Angeles got the backing of local political party Kambilan, which had originally endorsed her father as its vice mayoral bet.
Four members of the Pineda family are running for public office. Esmeralda and Mylyn, daughters of Governor Pineda, are running for mayor of Lubao and for a seat in the provincial board, respectively, while son Dennis is running for vice governor. Mylyn completed three terms as Lubao mayor.
In Santa Rita town, former Mayor Arturo Salalila is challenging his younger brother, incumbent Mayor Ferdinand Salalila.
It is also a brother-against-brother match in Macabebe town where the mayoral candidates are Leonardo and Edgar Flores. Their sister, former Mayor Annette Balgan, slid to vice mayor and is unchallenged.