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By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter
Three in four Mindanao Muslims (76 percent)
“would feel more confident of the fairness of the [electoral]
process if the votes were immediately counted at the precinct,
instead of taken to the municipal level for counting, as was often
done in ARMM in the past.”
This was the dominant sentiment expressed by
most Muslims in Mindanao who said they are satisfied with the
results of the 2007 elections, according to the latest Social
Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The survey, conducted from February 1 to 7,
showed that 68 percent of Mindanao Muslims believe that those who
were proclaimed winners in the last elections truly got the most
votes.
The 68-percent satisfaction rate of Mindanao
Muslims is slightly higher, compared to the 65 percent response
among Filipinos in general, when surveyed by SWS in June 2007.
About three of four Mindanao Muslims said the
voting in the last election was clean and orderly in their precinct.
But this figure is much lower than the 97 percent response of all
Filipinos in the June 2007 SWS survey.
SWS, meanwhile, noted that most Mindanao Muslims
consider violence as part of the elections.
“Sixty-nine percent of Mindanao Muslims said
violence during elections ‘is a way of life’ in their
province,” the SWS said.
It added, “41 percent say they are more
worried about their personal security during election time, while 62
percent say it is good to have an unopposed candidate, since it
reduces campaign violence.”
SWS found out that 83 percent of Mindanao
Muslims prefer to be represented by a male, rather than by a female
congressman.
Some 83 percent of the respondents also expect
the role of the ulama, or a Muslim religious elder, to become more
influential in the coming Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
elections in August.
The SWS special survey of Mindanao Muslims had a
total of 1,300 Muslim respondents.
Of these, 700 came from the ARMM with 100
respondents each coming from the provinces of Basilan, Tawi-Tawi,
Maguindanao, Sulu, Lanao del Sur, Marawi City and Sharif Kabunsuan.
The non-ARMM areas had 600 respondents, 100
respondents each coming from Zamboanga City, Cotabato City, Isabela
City, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Lanao del Norte.
The SWS said the latest special survey was
sponsored by The Asia Foundation as part of its program on election
reform. The program is funded by the Australian Agency for
International Development (AusAID) and the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA).
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