BARANGAY POLLS GENERALLY PEACEFUL

BARANGAY POLLS GENERALLY PEACEFUL - COMELEC, PNP

MANILA, OCTOBER 30, 2007 (STAR) By Sheila Crisostomo and Non Alquitran - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have declared that the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections yesterday were generally peaceful, despite some reports of poll-related violence.

PNP officials, however, said that isolated cases of violence were reported in some parts of the country.

The Comelec has described the elections nationwide as generally peaceful and orderly with a moderately high voter turnout.

“The situation seems to be under control. Reports about the turnout are not yet in but we got feedback that the turnout is high,” said acting Comelec chairman Resurreccion Borra in a press conference.

The Comelec is expecting to get all the reports from the field in the next three days. In the 2002 barangay and SK polls, the voter turnout was 68 percent.

The Comelec’s citizens arm, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), said the barangay and SK elections have shown a noticeable improvement compared to the senatorial and local elections last May 14.

PPCRV chairwoman Henrietta de Villa said there were less election-related incidents and irregularities in the conduct of yesterday’s polls.

De Villa revealed that their action center has not received any report of election-related violence as of yesterday afternoon.

She said the reports they received from their volunteers in polling precincts nationwide were limited to confusion of voters due to disenfranchisement.

“So far, we recorded cases of problems in locating precincts and finding the names of voters in the Posted Computerized Voters List (PCVL) at both Commonwealth Elementary and High School in Quezon City and in Manuel Quezon Elementary School,” she said.

Aside from problems in finding names or precincts, De Villa said they also received reports of some barangay officials refusing to leave the polling precincts.

The PPCRV head, however, lamented that there were lesser voters in the SK and barangay elections compared to the May 14 polls.

She said the PPCRV has conducted a more comprehensive voters’ education program for the SK and barangay polls.

“We have emphasized values of honest and rightful voting. This is something new. We have a new module for this election,” said De Villa, who was recently appointed as the first Filipino consultor of the elite Pontifical Council Cor Unum in the Vatican.

The PPCRV has tapped over 200,000 volunteers in all polling precincts nationwide to monitor the elections and ensure the credibility of results by preventing and exposing irregularities in the polls.

The Department of Education said the election was generally peaceful with more than 400,000 public school teachers assigned as poll officers.

Education Undersecretary Franklin Sunga said there was no untoward incident reported to the DepEd’s Election Task Force as of 5 p.m. yesterday.

The PNP reported that 23 people were killed while 20 others were wounded in election-related violent incidents nationwide since the start of the election period last Sept. 29 until yesterday.

PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr. ordered all regional and provincial police directors to intensify checkpoints and increase police visibility to prevent election-related violence.

“Some five hours after the polling precincts opened, we received reports of minimal election-related incidents,” Razon said.

At least 80,000 policemen and soldiers were deployed to secure polling precincts nationwide.

The PNP said that fatalities in poll-related violence include five candidates for barangay chairman, two candidates for village councilman, seven incumbent village officials, three other government officials and six civilians.

PNP records showed that 325 people were arrested for violating the gun ban, leading to the confiscation of 284 firearms, eight explosives and 52 assorted deadly weapons.

The PNP said that it has recorded 43 election-related violent incidents as of Oct. 27. Police said the latest poll-related cases were way below the 159 incidents and 75 killings recorded in the last barangay and SK polls in 2002.

According to Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, failure of elections has been declared in Panglima Estino in Sulu after all members of the Board of Election Tellers (BET) who are supposed to supervise the election, failed to report to their assigned poll precincts.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the other barangays in Sulu where there has been a failure of elections are: Sunugan, Panabuan, Tumtangis, Lambayong, Saksak and Tagbak in Indanan town because the officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the area refused to release the ballot boxes.

Failure of elections was also declared at Liubud Pantao in Talipao town after a policeman was killed in a shooting incident.

In Barangays Tulayan, Capual, Angilan and Lahing-lahi in Luuk town, failure of elections was also declared after the BET members failed to report for work.

The Comelec also declared a failure of elections in some villages in Sultan Dumalungdong in Lanao del Sur because of a mortar explosion that caused the election officers and the soldiers there to scamper away.

Reports reaching the Comelec showed that an incumbent barangay captain of Duminang, Zamboanga del Sur was gunned down on the eve of the polls.

The PNP reported that a candidate for barangay chairman was shot dead while casting his vote inside a precinct in an island village of Isabela City, Basilan.

Basilan police director Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar identified the slain victim as Omar Basir, a candidate for barangay chairman in Malamawi island.

Macapantar said security in other areas in Basilan remained high and the situation has been contained.

He said elections in Tipo-Tipo, Al-Barka, Ungkaya Pukan, and Tuburan, known havens of Abu Sayyaf bandits, were also peaceful.

Harassment

Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, chief of the 1st Army Division based in Western Mindanao, said unidentified armed men harassed members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) at Gitala island in San Pablo, Zamboanga del Sur.

Pajarito said no one was reported hurt and the BEIs resumed the elections under tight security.

Senior Supt. Agripino Javier, PNP director in Nueva Ecija, said six classrooms were gutted at the Tanuan Elementary School in Barangay Malbang in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija. Damage was placed at around P1 million.

Javier said the police are investigating reports that supporters of a candidate for barangay chairman were involved. However, Javier refused to identify the candidate.

Mayor Romeo Borja, who personally inspected the burned concrete school building, said it was the second time such incident happened before the elections.

He recalled that last May, unidentified men burned two classrooms at the West Poblacion Elementary School (WPES). The case has remained unsolved.

Comelec officials immediately transferred the affected polling precincts to an adjacent school building.

Javier said arson probers are also investigating if the fire was caused by faulty electrical wiring.

It can be recalled that a public school teacher and a poll watcher were killed after armed men burned down several polling precincts at a public school in Barangay Pinagbayanan in Taysan, Batangas, during the May 14 elections.

The fatalities were identified as Nellie Banaag, a teacher of the Pinagbayanan Elementary School, and poll watcher Leticia Ramos.

Several police officers, who were allegedly hired by a local mayoral candidate to sow terror, were charged for the arson attack in Taysan.

In Abra, a candidate for barangay chairman and his companion were seriously wounded last Sunday night after armed men ambushed them in Sitio Barbarit, Barangay Cosili East.

Chief Supt. Eugene Martin, PNP director for Cordillera Region, identified the victims as Fernando Sabalo, 32, who was running for barangay chair in Cosili East, and his companion Desiderio Sabaot, 28.

Police said that the candidate and four other companions were then walking along Sitio Barbarit in Cosili when unidentified armed men with an M16 rifle and shotguns suddenly sprayed them with bullets.

Comelec officials also reported a failure of elections in Barangay Tabacda in Tubo, Abra.

A re-electionist barangay chairman in Barangay Bingcongan, Tagum City in Davao del Norte survived Sunday after he was shot by his own brother who was also running as village chief.

Southern Mindanao regional police director Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II identified the victim as Israel Maug, who was shot by his brother Jaime.

The victim was reportedly shot while inside his car but survived the incident and was brought to the hospital.

The elections in Negros Occidental were marred by violence while the police have rounded up several violators of election-related offenses.

A mother was hit by a stray bullet and is now is critical condition at the Riverside Medical Center after she suffered a gunshot wound in the head after an encounter between supporters of candidates in the barangay elections in Murcia, Negros Occidental.

Murcia police chief Insp. Arnold Mecias said village chief Leandro dela Torre and Kagawad Jose Magsiko figured in a shooting incident in Barangay Silos where Mary Ann Maranon was hit by a stray bullet.

Dela Torre and Magsiko were later arrested and are now detained at the Murcia police jail.

Meanwhile, Barangay Iglawaan chairman Rudy Bancaya, also in Murcia, survived an assassination attempt after unidentified suspects strafed his house last Sunday night. No one was hurt in the incident.

In Cadiz City, three members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army and their team leader were nabbed by the police for gun ban violations.

Cadiz City police chief Insp. Jefferson Descallar said that the police arrested Danilo Borlas, a candidate for barangay councilman, and several supporters in Barangay Jerusalem. The police recovered two revolvers and knives from the suspects.

Also in Cadiz, election supervisor Rodel Gonzales filed charges of violation of election laws for alleged vote buying against Mitchell Suarez, Ruby Alolon and Carla Hofilena.

Gonzales said the Comelec received complaints of vote buying in Brgy. Zone 2 and their immediate response led to the arrest of the three suspects.

No-el in 3 ARMM towns

Meanwhile, the poll body failed to administer elections in three towns of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) after teachers and poll personnel failed to report to their designated polling precincts.

Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, director of the ARMM police, said elections were not held in the entire Damalundong and Lumba Kaunayan towns, both in Lanao del Sur, and in Panglima Estino, Sulu, after the teachers and the municipal election officers did not report for work.

“We’re still investigating what was the reason for their absence in their designated areas of assignment,” Goltiao told The STAR.

Goltiao said there were also reported failure of elections in several barangays in the towns of Lumbatan and Maguing, both in Lanao del Sur; in Kalingalan-Kaluang, Sulu; in Matanog, Shariff Kabunsuan; and in South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi.

“South Ubian is an island town and the waves were big so the teachers and the poll officials assigned there failed to depart and perform their duties there,” Goltiao said.

Goltiao said he sent a team of investigators to look into the complaints of local leaders in Kabuntalan and Northern Kabuntalan in Shariff Kabunsuan of the intimidation of voters by guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that were supporting some candidates for the barangay and SK polls.

Kabuntalan Mayor Salaban Diocolano said the members of the board of election tellers refused to proceed to the villages of Masilag and Leong in Kabuntalan due to the presence of heavily armed MILF rebels endorsing candidates. Some of the armed guerrillas were spotted inside the polling precincts.

Mayor Ramil Dilangalen of Northern Kabuntalan called on the joint ceasefire committee to investigate reports that armed MILF guerrillas were allegedly intimidating voters to force them to vote for candidates being supported by the rebels.

Dilangalen said MILF rebels, brandishing assault rifles, even entered some polling precincts in Barangay Montay in Northern Kabuntalan.

“Voters were so scared that many of them decided to go home instead of exercising their right of suffrage,” Dilangalen said.

Dilangalen said some MILF commanders in Northern Kabuntalan have fielded their candidates for barangay and SK positions.

“It’s okay for them to participate in electoral exercises such as this. It’s not okay for them to display firearms and scare voters like that,” Dilangalen said.

A candidate for barangay chairman and his followers clashed with a group supporting a rival candidate last Sunday in Rajah Buayan, Maguindanao.

Estrellita Orbase, Maguindanao’s acting election supervisor, confirmed the incident, but clarified the encounter did not affect the conduct of the elections in most parts of the province.

“Generally the elections in Maguindanao are peaceful,” Orbase said.

Lawyer Reddy Balarbar, Pangasinan election supervisor, said that they have received complaints of vote-buying allegedly perpetrated by some candidates in several towns.

Balarbar told The STAR that some candidates were giving voters cash ranging from P20 each to P500. Other candidates were giving away plastic buckets, bottles of bagoong, dressed chicken, a kilo of pork, among others.

The Comelec advised the complainants to file charges against the candidate who allegedly resorted to vote-buying.

In La Union, former provincial board member Natividad Ledda, incumbent barangay chairwoman of Barangay Nalasin in Balaoan, withdrew her candidacy hours before the voting started yesterday, leaving her rival running unopposed.

Ledda, wife of former mayor Casiano Ledda, who was serving only her second term as barangay chief, backed down from the barangay race due to personal reasons.

Her rival, Lydia Olivar, wife of former municipal councilor Larry Olivar, already declared victory after Ledda withdrew her candidacy.

Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo in Nalasin, the seat of INC’s area chapel that supported Ledda, was surprised by her withdrawal.

Balaoan police chief Superintendent Vicente Co had expressed relief after Ledda withdrew her candidacy, since Barangay Nalasin was listed as an area of concern due to intense rivalry between the two female candidates.

Same old problems

The conduct of yesterday’s synchronized village and youth council elections has revived the clamor for the computerization of polls in the country amid the recurrence of same old problems.

Pointing to the voter’s list as the main culprit for the confusion, voters once again found themselves running around for their names in lists posted in each precinct.

Reports of massive vote buying also continued even on the day of the election, involving both candidates in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

In a village in Quezon City, vote buying rates range from P600 to P2,000 per voter in the barangay level while youth voters were reportedly paid P200 to favor a certain youth council chairperson.

There were likewise reports of voters discovering upon reaching their respective precincts that someone had already voted for them. — With Edu Punay, Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Antonieta Lopez, Eva Visperas, Manny Galvez, Rainier Allan Ronda, Ding Cervantes, Ric Sapnu, Myds Supnad, John Unson, Charlie Lagasca, Dino Balabo, Roel Pareño, Katherine Adraneda

Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi

PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE