THREE candidates in Cebu who won in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) held on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023, will have to wait to be proclaimed.
They are reelectionists Maguikay Barangay Captain Eduardo Gumera of Mandaue City and Valladolid Barangay Captain Anthony John Apura of Carcar City. The third is Gian Vincent Sinda, who ran for barangay councilor in Buanoy, Balamban.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) 7 earlier misidentified Sinda as an SK aspirant.
Comelec 7 Director Lionel Marco Castillano, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, said they are waiting for the Comelec en banc to issue a decision.
On Monday, Castillano told SunStar Cebu that Comelec had approved the suspension of the proclamation of the three and a candidate in Negros Oriental.
According to a SunStar Cebu report on Sunday, Oct. 29, Comelec issued an omnibus order, dated Wednesday, Oct. 25, listing candidates running in the BSKE with pending administrative charges and complaints for disqualification.
Gumera, Apura and Sinda were on the list.
Gumera was found guilty of an attempt to commit child prostitution under Section 6 of the Special Protection of Children against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act, while Apura was convicted as an accomplice to the crime of murder.
In interviews on Oct. 28, Gumera and Apura said the suspension order and disqualification complaints were just political tricks by their opponents.
Castillano did not reveal the story behind Sinda’s disqualification case but said the Comelec en banc found concrete basis to suspend his proclamation should he win.
In a text message to SunStar on Tuesday, Sinda said he would not give an interview until his lawyers gave him the go-ahead.
Comelec administration officer and lawyer Joaquin Niccolo Fernandez said the Comelec office in Manila is handling the disqualification cases.
“We (Comelec 7) have no jurisdiction over that. To determine what will happen regarding their disqualification, we will have to wait for the order from Manila,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, the Department of the Interior and Local Government is expected to fill the vacuum as the cases are being tried and heard.
Under Republic Act 11935, officials elected in the BSKE on Oct. 30, 2023, shall assume office at noon of Nov. 30.