Central Luzon polls ‘generally peaceful’

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said about 80 to 85 percent of the 1,079,532 registered voters in this home-province of President Arroyo cast their votes yesterday in what was described as "generally peaceful and orderly" elections throughout Central Luzon.

In San Manuel, Tarlac, however, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) mayoral candidate Benjamin Tesoro and three of his bodyguards were arrested yesterday morning after policemen found them in possession of several firearms.

A report received by the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here identified Tesoro’s bodyguards as Edgar Laurel, Eduardo Diza and Jose Diza.

Found in their possession were a US Carbine rifle with three short magazines with live bullets, a 12-gauge shotgun, an improvised 12-gauge shotgun, an improvised revolver and an improvised M-16 rifle.

Tesoro and his men were detained at Camp Makabulos in Tarlac City.

Despite this incident, the Comelec’s Central Luzon director, Zoilo Perlas, told The STAR that elections in Central Luzon were "generally peaceful and orderly."

He, however, said there were the "usual reports" of missing names in voter’s lists in some areas.

Thirty minutes after precincts closed at 3 p.m. yesterday, Perlas and Pampanga elections supervisor Artemio Lambino estimated that about 80 to 85 percent of Pampanga’s registered voters took part in yesterday’s electoral exercise.

"My observation is that more voters went out to vote in Pampanga (today) than in the 2001 elections," Lambino said.

Earlier, third district Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, the Lakas-CMD (Christian-Muslim Democrats) mayoral bet in this capital city, cited surveys showing that President Arroyo would garner as much as 80 percent of votes in this city which has 101,000 voters.

In Olongapo City, the PIA reported a shortage of jeepneys in Gordon Heights and New Cabalan because some local candidates had hired public utility vehicles to ferry voters to polling precincts.

Some of the hired jeepneys sported streamers of Bong Gordon, who was running for congressman in Zambales’ first district.

In Nueva Ecija, provincial elections officer Jesus Alicante also described the elections in the province as "generally peaceful and orderly."

He said he observed a huge turnout of voters in precincts he inspected in the northern towns, particularly Guimba and Cuyapo.

Alicante said he received a report that a man was gunned down in Nampicuan town yesterday, but it turned out to be not election-related.

Even in Muñoz City, which was placed under Comelec control, no untoward incidents were reported until the polling precincts closed at 3 p.m., he said.

In Zambales, provincial election staffer Agnes Miclat declined to comment on the turnout of voters, saying they were still awaiting field reports. But she said elections in the province were generally peaceful and orderly, too.

Lawyer Elmer Kayanan, the Comelec’s Tarlac chief, attributed the peaceful polls in the province to pledges by top Tarlac political leaders that they would police their respective followers.— With Benjie Villa