He and his wife Cristina, an incumbent city councilor running for reelection, filed their respective certificates of candidacy on October 4, 2012.

An Waray partylist Representative Florencio Gabriel Noel, who is term-limited, filed his certificate of candidacy to challenge Romualdez on October 3, 2012.

[4] Representative Noel's running mate was incumbent Vice Mayor Jose Arvin Antoni of the Liberal Party.

[5] Incumbent councilor Jerry "Sambo" Yaokasin, who is term-limited, ran for Vice Mayor as an independent.

Voters elected ten councilors to comprise the City Council or the Sangguniang Panlungsod.