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A total of 23 people were killed in the run-up to
Monday’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls, which
government claims is low compared to the deaths in last May’s
national elections and the village polls held in 2002.
“Except for isolated incidents
of violence and killings, it was generally peaceful compared to the
2002 barangay and SK elections,” Commission on Elections (Comelec)
Acting Chairman Resurrecion Borra said.
The Philippine National Police
(PNP) reported a total of 42 election-related incidents since
September 29, when police went on alert for the polls. The violence
statistics from this year’s village polls is small compared to the
2002 barangay elections, where there were 159 violent incidents and
75 deaths. In the May national elections, 121 people were killed
from 229 violent incidents.
“At the rate we are proceeding,
we can see a largely honest, orderly and peaceful outcome of these
elections,” the PNP chief, Director General Avelino Razon Jr.,
told reporters at Camp Crame.
Police also reported that more
than 300 civilians were arrested for violating the gun ban ahead of
elections. There were reports of widespread vote-buying in polling
precincts in provinces near Manila, while rival politicians were
intimidating voters in violation of laws forbidding them to be near
polling sites. (See related story on Page 7).
Nonetheless, there was a heavy
turnout at the polls. The Comelec spokesman, James Jimenez, said
they expected a 70-percent turnout out of the nearly 48 million
registered voters for the barangay election, and 3.1 million for the
youth elections.
Some 1.3 million candidates vied
for 335,960 barangay positions and an equal number of SK positions.
The country has a total of 41,995 barangay units.
GMA, Erap cast votes
without incident
President Gloria Arroyo went to
her hometown on Lubao, Pampanga, on Monday to vote. The President
arrived at the polling center at 9:25 a.m. and finished voting
shortly before 10 a.m.
The President traveled by land
from Malacañang to her father’s hometown in Pampanga, and was
listed as voter No. 86 out of 198 registered voters of polling
Precinct I-A, where she also voted during the 2004 and 2007 national
and local elections.
Meanwhile, election officers said
they tightened security in San Juan City, especially near the Pedro
Cruz Elementary School where former President Joseph Estrada, clad
in white jacket and brown pants, cast his vote about 2:20 p.m. at
Precinct 132-D.
The local election officers
assigned a special polling station for the former president, which
is located at the building lobby, ground floor. Estrada, who has
weak knees, however, opted to go to the third floor or the precinct
where he usually votes. After 10 minutes, he finished voting and
immediately left.
Metro Manila situation
Police identified 21 “hot
spots” in Metro Manila, where 5,000 policemen were deployed to
curb violence, and there were reports of harassment and other
election-related violations in Taguig City and in certain areas of
Pasay City, Caloocan City, Quezon City and San Juan.
Borra said Comelec is validating
all the incidents for proper action. “This is democracy in
action,” he said.
At Taguig, a failure of elections
was declared in three polling precincts in Barangay Maharlika, after
nine teachers failed to show up to perform their duties as board of
election inspectors. The teachers may face charges before the
Comelec.
Election Officers in Pasay City
also declared a failure of elections in Barangay 76, Zone 10, after
voters complained of being harassed and intimidated by supporters of
opposing candidates for barangay captain.
Meanwhile, Pasay City traffic
personnel arrested 34 alleged flying voters onboard two passenger
jeepneys in separate incidents at F.B. Harrison and Pildera streets.
At San Lorenzo Village in Makati
City, voters complained of the presence of flying voters allegedly
from a squatters area at the back of the Makati Medical Center,
known as the “Botanical Garden.”
The alleged presence of flying
voters was compounded by the high number of registered voters, which
residents blamed on the influx of residents from several high-rise
condominium buildings at nearby Legaspi Village.
There were also reports of
massive vote-buying allegedly perpetrated by candidates running for
barangay chairman. A source from the barangay hall said around 700
voters were each given P1,000.
The Parish Pastoral Council for
Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said they have received numerous
complaints from voters in Makati who could not find their names in
their assigned precincts.
In Barangay Carmona, two
supporters of rival candidates for barangay chairman engaged in a
fistfight after accusing each other of fielding “flying voters.”
Provincial violence
A candidate for village chairman
and a supporter were killed after a lone gunman shot them at Monday
noon in a remote village in Basilan province, police reports said.
The Muslim Mindanao police
director, Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, identified the two fatalities as
Basher Maharan, who was running for village chief, and a certain
Hasan, a supporter.
In Lamitan, Basilan, a village
chairman was wounded after he was shot by still unidentified men
about 1 a.m. Monday. Police reports identified the victim as Hadji
Alih Salasim, chairman of Barangay Manggusin of Akbar town.
Shooting incidents were also
reported in Bacolod City and in Abra Province, a known election
hotspot, though details were not yet available as of press time.
In Nueva Ecija, a fire hit
Tanauan Elementary School in Pantabangan town about 4 a.m. PNP
spokesman and Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao said arson probers are now
investigating the fire, which destroyed at least six classrooms.
Mayor Romeo Borja of Pantabangan
said the fire could have been caused by faulty electrical wiring,
since the fire was put out by local firemen after an hour.
Meanwhile, reports reaching the
Comelec showed, among others, that there was failure of elections in
20 barangay units, located in four different municipalities of Sulu.
Failure of elections was also declared in Sultan Dumalandong in
Lanao del Sur following reports of mortar fire, while election
paraphernalia were not delivered on time in Marawi City.
At the lone barangay of Kalayaan
Island town in the Spratlys in the South China Sea, the Comelec
declared a failure of elections because there was no military plane
to transport election inspectors, official ballots and election
materials to the island.
--Anthony V. Vargas, William B. Depasupil, Jonathan M. Hicap,
Armand M. Galang,
Francis Earl A. Cueto and
James Konstantin Galvez
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