TUGUEGARAO CITY — A retired Philippine Navy official filed on October 16 his certificate of candidacy (CoC) in the special election set on November 28 for the Batanes congressional seat.
The post became vacant on September 21 with the death of Rep. Ciriaco Gato Jr.
Retired Commodore Edward Ike De Sagon beat the deadline when he submitted his CoC at the Batanes Provincial Capitol.
He was accompanied by his wife, lawyer Christina Faye Condez-De Sagon and his supporters.
Lawyer Irving Calauad, Batanes provincial election supervisor, said the arrival of the CoC filing documents was delayed a day due to the erratic weather.
This condition forced election officials to start processing CoCs on October 15, instead of October 14. Friday (October 16) was the last day of filing.
The winner of the special congressional election in Batanes will serve the unexpired term of the late representative.
The campaign period has been slated from October 29 to November 26.
The election period and the mandatory gun ban takes effect from October 29 to December 13, 2026
The son of Batanes’ former political leaders and the brother of the late representative have also filed their certificates of candidacy.
Batanes election reports says the first to file his CoC on October 15 was Luis Abad, son of former Budget Secretary and ex-congressman Florencio Abad and the late former Rep. Henedina Abad.
John Gato, 61-year-old brother of the late congressman, also filed his candidacy on October 15. /apl
The post Retired Navy commodore last to file CoC for Batanes congressional poll appeared first on Inquirer.net.