President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared Saturday, March 14, a special non-working holiday in all villages of Antipolo’s 2nd District to allow voters to participate in the upcoming special congressional election.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will oversee the vote nearly three months after the death of congressman Romeo Acop.

Here’s what you need to know. 

There are six aspirants for the post.

There are six candidates seeking to represent Antipolo’s second district in the House of Representatives. 

Considered the frontrunner, Philip “Dok Bong” Acop is fighting to keep his family name in Congress and succeed his father. He is running under the banner of the National Unity Party. 

His five opponents are Reden “Red” Llaga, Irvin Paulo “Paui” Tapales, Nathaniel “Atty. Nat” Lobigas, Maria Trinidad “Baby” Galang Cafirma, and Dandin “Dan” Infante — all independents. 

Llaga is seen as the Duterte camp’s bet, receiving endorsements from PDP deputy spokesperson Ferdinand Topacio and pediatrician Richard Mata, both staunch allies of the former president.

At the beginning of the election season, incumbent councilor Lorenzo Juan “LJ” Sumulong III also filed for candidacy, which he later withdrew.

Sumulong made the decision following a consultation with his party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and dialogue with Antipolo Mayor Casmiro “Jun” Ynares III and opponent Acop. The Ynares dynasts of Rizal province are under NPC.

“We believe that at this time, the stability of the government, continuous services, and the unity of the district are more important than any political conflict,” Sumulong said on Facebook, announcing his withdrawal. 

The campaign period for the special election ran from February 12 to March 12, Thursday.

Around 250,000 residents are eligible to vote.

There are 242,793 registered voters across Antipolo 2nd District’s eight barangays: Calawis, Cupang, Dalig, Inarawan, San Jose, San Juan, San Luis, and San Roque. They can cast their ballots across 36 voting centers, most of which are schools.

PWDs and senior citizens can vote early from 5 am to 7 am. 

Regular voting hours are from 7 am until 3 pm. 

Votes will be cast and counted manually.

Unlike past synchronized elections — national and local — that were automated, the special election in Antipolo’s 2nd District will be conducted manually.

Due to the lengthy process of tallying votes by hand, the winner may not be proclaimed on the day of the election.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia said in an interview with DZMM that the proclamation may instead take place in the afternoon or evening of Sunday, March 15.

After teachers manually count each ballot, election returns will be brought to the city hall of Antipolo, which will serve as the election operations center.

“The election returns will be canvassed one by one. Take note that because we have 348 clustered precincts, we also have 348 election returns that will be canvassed individually by the board of canvassers,” Garcia said.

In a Facebook post, the poll body reminded voters to clearly write the name of their chosen candidate on their ballots. No shading or checking is required. – Jia Erikah Fajardo/Rappler.com

Jia Erikah Fajardo is a journalism student at Colegio de San Juan de Letran-Manila and the features editor of its official student publication The LANCE. She is currently a Rappler intern.