ONE Cebu will be deciding on its national candidates and alliances “well after” the deadline for the substitution of candidates on November 15, said Representative Pablo John “PJ” Garcia, One Cebu Secretary General.
In response to questions about which party One Cebu will partner with and which candidates for national positions it will support in the 2022 elections, Garcia (Cebu, 3rd district) said that the party leadership deemed it best to decide this at a later time, considering that the situation is “quite fluid.”
“Right now, we don’t know who will eventually file their certificates in October, and, of those who do file in October, we don’t know who will remain candidates after November 15,” he explained. He expects the party to make a decision before January of 2022.
One Cebu, Garcia said, is now focused solely on strengthening and consolidating its leadership in the Province of Cebu.
Last week, One Cebu scored a political coup when the mayors of all eight towns of the seventh district, together with Representative Peter John Calderon, declared their solid support to One Cebu in the presence of Governor Gwen Garcia and Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino. The mayors were also accompanied by both provincial board members of the district, Christopher Baricuatro and Jerome Librando.
All One Cebu candidates will be filing their certificates of candidacy (COCs) in October 2021 as nominees of the local party, Garcia said.
The Commission on Elections has set the period for filing COCs from October 1 to 8, 2021, including Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The deadline for substitution of candidates is on November 15, 2021. (PR)