- MITCH M. LIPA
A fifty-year-old widow from La Carlota City filed her Certificate of Candidacy for governor of Negros Occidental Oct. 6, saying she was shown signs by the Virgin Mary to lead the people.
Maria Socorro Sibulan Okada said she decided to run for governor since it is difficult for her to file her COC for president of the Philippines.
Okada lives in Barangay 3, La Carlota City, adding that she took public transportation to reach the provincial Capitol in Bacolod City, where the Comelec is receiving COCs.
She told the media after she filed her COC that her husband was Japanese and they have two children studying in Japan. She went home to La Carlota a few years before the pandemic struck.
She said she paints as a hobby, and her artworks are based on her vision or of things that only she can see.
Okada added the Virgin Mary has given her the signs to lead a group of people, but she admitted that she did not know her opponent, incumbent Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson.
Her documents were reviewed by Comelec personnel and she was advised to have them notarized. She returned several minutes later with complete papers.
Okada said the Holy Water is healing water and she believes that COVID patients will be healed by it. — MML
