Efforts to call for failure of Apayao polls downplayed

KABUGAO, Apayao — Poll officials and the police downplayed efforts of losing candidates to call for a failure of elections in the province as some radio stations in Metro Manila circulate negative reports.

Lawyer Alexander Pilotin, acting provincial election supervisor, denied there were any election-related incidents in the province.

Pilotin said the elections here were one of the peaceful and orderly poll exercises he has witnessed through the years.

"I was just assigned here in Apayao this month and I can say that the election exercise here is generally peaceful and orderly compared to other parts of the country where fraud and cheating were very evident," he said.

Pilotin said he has been in close coordination with the provincial police command headed by Senior Superintendent Donato Baquian and earlier with his predecessor, Senior Superintendent James Dogao, and military units assigned to preserve the integrity of ballot boxes.

Pilotin, meanwhile, belied allegations that he is partisan, saying his station is in Ifugao and that this is the first time he has set foot in Apayao.

"There is no reason for me to be partisan. I was stationed in Ifugao and was just reshuffled this May for the poll exercise. Personally, I don’t know any of the candidates here," he said.

Baquian echoed Pilotin’s observation. Although the police reported that the political contest in the province caused tension when a young boy was killed as a consequence of the heated campaign, Baquian said it was an isolated incident.

Reports said nine-year-old Michael Sepeda Bongay, son of Edralin Bongay, was killed on the spot when five armed men, three of them armed with Armalites, opened fire on the family last May 5. The boy’s parents were seriously wounded.

Bongay is said to be one of the leaders of gubernatorial candidate Rep. Elias Bulut in Kabugao, one of Apayao’s seven towns.

"We can say that the incident was an isolated one since no other similar incident was reported in other municipalities," Baquian said.

Both Pilotin and Baquian said efforts of some quarters to call for a failure of elections in the province would not prosper because records show that Apayao folk exercised their poll rights in an orderly and peaceful manner.

Meanwhile, the Comelec proclaimed Bulut last Friday as the duly elected governor. He edged out rival Ambaru Sagle by a margin of more than 10,000 votes.

Bulut said charges of electoral fraud, vote-buying and harassment were a mere "creation" of his rivals.