GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The 2022 elections will witness anew a prominent political clan in a coastal town in Sarangani province pitting family members against each other.
Members of the Yap family, an influential clan that has controlled the political scene for years in Glan municipality, will slug it out again next year.
Roy Lacap, Glan election officer, confirmed on Saturday that at least five family members filed their certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the mayoralty and vice mayoralty posts.
Incumbent Vice Mayor Victor James Yap Sr., a former three-term mayor, filed his COC for the local chief executive position on October 5 under the People’s Champ Movement.
His son, municipal councilor Victor James Jr., will be his running mate.
Victor James Sr. will fight his sister, incumbent mayor Vivien, who will seek a second term under the Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats.
Victor James Jr. will contend for the seat against his two uncles, ex-Glan mayor Enrique Yap Jr. and former Sarangani provincial board member Cyril John Rustico Yap.
Enrique Jr., who served as Glan mayor for three straight terms, is the running mate of Mayor Vivien while Cyril John is an independent.
Cyril John lost his bid for a final term as vice mayor to Vivien in 2010 while his wife lost in the mayoralty race to Victor James Sr.
Enrique Jr. has lost twice to Vivien – for vice mayor in 2013 and for mayor in 2019, when cousin Cyril John also ran.
“The filing of COCs was smooth and orderly and we did not encounter any major problem,” Lacap said in an interview.
The extended voters’ registration will begin on Monday and end on October 30.
Glan, the tourism capital of Sarangani and the province’s top coconut producer, had the second-highest number of registered voters among the province’s seven municipalities in 2019 with 67,950. (With a report from Allen V. Estabillo/PNA)
