Aklan has 459 candidates for local posts
BY VENUS G. VILLANUEVA

KALIBO, Aklan - A total of 459 candidates running for various positions in the May 14, ’07 polls have filed their Certificates of Candidacies (COCs) at the Provinccial and Municipal COMELEC offices here.
The certified list released by the COMELEC revealed that two candidates are running for Representative of the Lone District of Aklan; four are running for Governor; two for Vice Governor and 22 for Sangguniang Panlalawigan Eastern and Western Districts.
Forty-five (45) candidates are running for mayor of Aklan’s 17 municipalities while 37 are running for vice mayoralty positions.
Three hundred forty-seven (347) are running for Sangguniang Bayan posts. Five vice mayoralty candidates are running unopposed.
Four mayoralty candidates are spouses of incumbent mayors who are all three termers - Altavas candidate, Kathryne Refol is the wife of Mayor Denny Refol; Batan candidate Delfina Ramos is the wife of Mayor Herodutos Ramos; Numancia candidate Elvirita Templonuevo is the wife of Mayor Ernesto Templonuevo; while Buruanga candidate Quezon Labindao is the husband of Mayor Concepcion Labindao. These four mayoralty candidates are all running under the KAMPI party. Of the 45 mayoralty candidates, 13 are running under KAMPI.
Most Aklan candidates are running under the Nacionalista Party numbering P112; KAMPI, 96; LAKAS-CMD, 85, Liberal Party, 55, and PDP-Laban, 30.
Fifty-two (52) candidates are running as independents. Others are running under the Partido Masang Pilipino, United Opposition (UNO), UNO-PDP Laban, UNO-NP and Lakas ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP).
Incumbent Representative Florencio T. Miraflores who is up for reelection, is running under the KAMPI party while incumbent Governor Carlito S. Marquez is running under the LAKAS banner. His running mate, incumbent Vice Governor Ronquillo C. Tolentino is also running under LAKAS.
Anthony Acevedo, the other candidate for Congressman/Representative, is running under the PMP-PDP Laban party while the three other gubernatorial bets – like Kareen Galvan, is running under PMP; Maria Bettina Mobo Garcia, PDP-Laban, and Victoria Meñez Ramos, UNO.
Vice-gubernatorial candidate Gabrielle Calizo, who served as Aklan’s Lone District Representative from 2001-2004, is running under the Nacionalista Party.
The province of Aklan has a total of 273,677 registered voters. Towns with the biggest number of voters are Kalibo, the capital town with 36,162 followed by Ibajay with 22,116 and New Washington, 21,891.