DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 12 March) – Of 2,385 candidates running for executive and legislative posts across Mindanao’s 27 provinces and 33 cities, 1,903 (79.8%) are men and only 482 (20.2%) are women, majority of them wives or daughters or siblings of incumbents or those ending their third and last term.
The 2,385 candidates are vying for governor, vice governor, provincial board member, congressional representative, city mayor, vice mayor and city councilor.
The statistical data culled by MindaNews from the Commission on Elections’ list of candidates refers only to the provincial and city posts and does not include candidates for local posts across Mindanao’s 422 towns.
In 2019, MindaNews reported only 24 out of 118 posts for governor, city mayor and congressional district representatives in Mindanao then, were won by women, down from 33 in 2016.
From nine women governors during the 2016-2019 term, only four women were elected governor in 2019; from 17 women elected as congressional representatives in 2016, only nine were elected in 2019.
There was an increase, however, in the number of women elected as city mayor: from eight in 2016 to 11 in 2019.
In the current term (2019 to 2022), four of 27 governors are women, representing 14.8%, nine of 60 congressional district representatives are women, accounting for 15% and 11 of 33 city mayors are women, representing 33.3%.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021 noted that the Philippines remains the top performing country in Asia in terms of gender equality and ranked 17th out of 156 countries, one notch lower than in 2020.
The Global Gender Gap Index tracks progress towards closing gaps over time in four areas: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.
The report noted that the Philippines is “still lagging in terms of political empowerment, with only 36.2% of the gap being closed so far.
“Despite having a woman as head of state for over 15 of the past 50 years,” referring to Presidents Corazon Aquino (1986 to 1992) and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2001 to 2010), “there are still too few seats in the parliament held by women (28%) and even fewer women among ministers (13%),” the report said.
100 for Governor, 120 for City Mayor
In the May 2022 elections, 907 candidates are running for various posts across Mindanao’s 27 provinces, 189 or 20.8% of them women.
Exactly one hundred candidates are running for Governor but only 21 are women; 81 are running for Vice Governor, 23 of them women; and 726 are running for a seat in the Provincial Board, 145 of them women.
Of 150 candidates running for 51 congressional districts in the provinces, only 33 are women.
In Mindanao’s 33 cities, 1,328 are running for mayor, vice mayor, councilor, and representative in nine congressional districts in five highly urbanized cities, but only 260 or 19.6% are women.
One hundred twenty candidates are running for city mayor, 16 of them women.
The other women candidates: 15 of 85 for vice mayor; 256 of 1,093 for city councilor; and four out of 30 candidates running for the nine congressional districts in the highly urbanized cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Iligan and Zamboanga.
10 for Governor in 1 province, all-male
Among the 27 provinces, 12 have all-male candidates for governor.
Lanao del Sur has the most number of candidates for governor: 10, all of them male.
Eleven other provinces have all-male candidates: five each in Bukidnon and Tawi-tawi, four in Camiguin, three each in Davao de Oro, Misamis Occidental, Sarangani, South Cotabato and Surigao del Norte, and two in Davao del Norte. Two provinces have unopposed candidates: reelectionist Santiago Cane, Jr. (NUP) in Agusan del Sur and outgoing vice governor Franklin Bautista in Davao Occidental.
8 for Mayor, all of them male
Among the 33 cities, 19 have all-male candidates for Mayor.
Two cities have eight candidates each for mayor, all of them male: Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro.
Zamboanga City’s incumbent mayor, Maria Isabelle Climaco, is ending three terms and is running for the 1st district congressional seat she once represented.
Iligan and Marawi cities have seven candidates each for the top post, all of them men.
The other cities with all-male candidates for Mayor are Bislig, Davao, Dipolog, Kidapawan and Panabo with four candidates each; Dapitan, Digos, Ozamiz, Tacurong and Tangub with three candidates each; and El Salvador, Malaybalay, Oroquieta and Surigao with two each. Kirk Asis (National Unity Party), the mayoral candidate for Bayugan City does not need to campaign. He is running unopposed. And so is his brother, Kim Lope who is running for Vice Mayor.
60 seats in Congress
Among Mindanao’s 60 congressional districts (51 in the provinces and nine in the highly urbanized cities), there are only 37 women or 20.6% running for Representative.
Twenty seven of 51 congressional districts in the provinces have all-male candidates with Lanao del Sur’s two districts having five candidates each; Davao del Norte’s two districts with three and two, respectively.
The other congressional districts with all-male candidates are Agusan del Norte’s 1st district with four candidates; Bukidnon’s District 1 with three and District 2 with two; Camiguin’s lone district with three; Davao de Oro’s District 2 with two; Davao del Norte’s District 1 with three and District 2 with two; Davao Oriental’s District 2 with two; Lanao del Norte’s District 1 with two; Misamis Occidental’s District 1 with three; North Cotabato’s District 1 with 3) and District 2 with 2; Sarangani’s lone district with three; South Cotabato’s District 1 with two; Sultan Kudarat’s District 2 with two; Surigao del Norte’s District 2 with two; Surigao del Sur’s District 2 with two; Zamboanga del Norte’s District 1 with four and District 3 with four.
There are six congressional districts whose candidates are sure winners as they are running unopposed: Agusan del Sur’s Districts 1 and 2 (Alfelito Bascug and Adolph Edward Plaza, both of the National Unity Party); Davao Occidental’s lone district (outgoing Governor Claude Bautista), Davao Oriental’s 1st district (outgoing Governor Nelson Dayanghirang) and Sulu’s Districts 1 and 2 (Abdusakur Tan II of PDP and Munir Arbison, Jr. of the Lakas-CMD).
Of 30 candidates in the nine congressional districts in highly urbanized cities, 26 are men and four are women.
Six of the nine congressional districts have all-male candidates: Cagayan de Oro City’s District 1 has three; Davao City’s District 2 has 3 and District 3 has two; General Santos City’s lone district has three; Iligan City’s lone district has two and Zamboanga City’s District 2 has five.
In the nine congressional districts in Mindanao’s highly urbanized cities, only four out of 30 candidates are women: Maria Victoria “Mags” Zafra Maglana for the 1st district of Davao City against three candidates, including reelectionist Rep. Paolo Duterte; Irene La Victoria Floro of the People’s Reform Party for the 2nd district of Cagayan de Oro against reelectionist Rufus Rodriguez of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines; and in Zamboanga City’s District 1, Mayor Climaco (Partido Prosperidad y Amor para na Zamboanga) and Nur-Aisa Mohammad Awis (Partido Federal ng Pilipinas) against four male candidates while in District 2, all five candidates in the second district are male.
For national posts, 12 Mindanawons are running for national posts: 3 out of 10 candidates for President, one of nine for Vice President and eight of 64 for senator.
Of the 12 Mindanawons seeking national posts, four are women: Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte for vice president and Samira Ali Gutoc, Marieta Mindalano-Adam and Nur-Ana Indanan Sahidulla for senator. (Carolyn O. Arguillas / MindaNews)