Monday to Wednesday this week will again be days to watch in the political arena in Negros Oriental.
These are the days (Nov. 6-8) when those interested to run in the special elections for 3rd District Representative will be filing their certificates of candidacy.
This special election, scheduled for Dec. 9, will fill the vacuum resulting from the expulsion of Cong. Arnie Teves from Congress, due to his unauthorized absences, among other reasons.
From earlier news reports, it would seem that this will be an election for the 3rd Congressional District whose candidates could be Pamplona Mayor Janice Vallega-Degamo, Siaton Mayor Fritz Diaz, and retired Col. Rey Lopez, who was Gov. Roel Degamo’s candidate against Teves in the last election.
Eventually, whoever will file his or her COC is anyone’s guess.
As the national midterm elections is due in 2025, this will mean that whoever wins the election for Congress for the 3rd District will only be in office for one and a half years. His/Her time beginning on Day 1 as Congressman of the 3rd District may only regrettably be spent campaigning for 2025.
The Commission on Elections had placed 27 barangays in Negros Oriental in its watchlist as “areas of concern” and many of these happen to be in the 3rd District.
For this reason, the government will again be fielding thousands of troops to guard southern Negros Oriental to ensure that the Dec. 9 elections will push through fairly, peacefully, and orderly.
With a successful election also come our hopes that the Province will become more politically-stable so that real peace and development will follow.
