BINALBAGAN, Negros Occidental—Turnout was up to 80 percent in a special election held yesterday in the fifth district of the province to fill a seat in the House of Representatives vacated by the death of Rep. Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo.
Rains failed to dampen interest in the election, which was held about five months since the death of Arroyo in London due to cancer in January.
Jessie Suarez, provincial elections supervisor, said up to 80 percent of 206,521 voters in the fifth district went out to vote in a process that he described as “very peaceful.”
The result of the election would be known today, Suarez said.
Only two candidates are contesting the seat, however. They are Emilio Yulo III, 48, provincial board member, and his uncle, Alejandro Mirasol, 58, mayor of Binalbagan town that belongs to the province’s fifth district together with the towns of Hinigaran, Isabela, La Castellana and Moises Padilla.
The race was expected to be tight since both candidates enjoyed the support of different political parties and families and mayors in the district.
Mirasol, of the Liberal Party, has the backing of President Aquino; the Nationalist People’s Coalition of Mr. Aquino’s uncle, businessman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco; the local party United Negros Alliance; the late Arroyo’s partner Grace Ibuna, and mayors of Hinigaran, Isabela, La Castellana and Moises Padilla.
Yulo, of the Nacionalista Party, enjoys the support of Himamaylan Mayor Agustin Ernesto Bascon and several influential families in the fifth district, including Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña and former Board Member Enrique Montilla.
Mirasol cast his vote past 9 a.m. at Binalbagan Southern Elementary School. Yulo voted at Rumirang Elementary School in Isabela past 10 a.m.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Sixto Brillantes said the winner could assume his post on Monday but would have only a year to serve because the next elections for the same seat is just around the corner. Regular national elections are scheduled in May 2013. Filing of certificates of candidacy for the regular elections starts in October.
Brillantes and Comelec Commissioners Armando Velasco and Christian Robert Lim were in Negros Occidental to observe the special election.
They were expected to stay in the province until the winner was proclaimed, which would not be later than today.
Brillantes said the special election in the fifth district would be the last in the country before the May 2013 elections.
He admitted that the Comelec didn’t want to hold the special election in the fifth district because it was too close to the regular elections and would cost about P21.6 million to conduct.
But he added the poll body had to comply with the resolution of the House of Representatives that called for the special election to replace Arroyo, brother-in-law of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.