The upcoming Batanes special congressional election on Nov. 28 will be a tight race where a candidate could win a seat in the House of Representatives with fewer than 3,000 votes, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia said.
Garcia said the race is expected to be highly competitive because all four candidates vying for the province’s lone district seat are prominent individuals.
“There are four candidates running in Batanes, and the situation is somewhat critical. We’ve been saying that this election is no walk in the park,” he said in a recent interview.
The contenders in the running are Edward Ike De Sagon (Independent), John Gato (Nationalist People’s Coalition), Luis Andres Abad (Liberal Party), and Marilou Cayco (Partido Federal ng Pilipinas).
Abad is the son of former congressman Butch Abad, Cayco is a former governor of Batanes, Gato is a relative of the late Batanes Representative Ciriaco Gato Jr., and De Sagon is a retired Commodore of the Philippine Navy.
The province has a voting population of only 13,138 registered voters, which drastically lowers the threshold to win.
“Whoever gets 2,700 to 2,800 votes could already be elected as congressman,” Garcia said.
The special polls will be held to replace former and late Batanes Representative Ciriaco Gato Jr., who died last Sept. 21. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)