‘Yes’ to Dinagat provincehood

SURIGAO CITY — With a margin of only 6,914 votes coming from five towns in Dinagat Island bailiwick of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), the "yes" to Dinagat Island Province prevailed over a poorly promoted "no" in the Dec. 2 referendum.

The "yes" vote officially garnered a total of 70,058 votes while "no" got only 63,144, COMELEC said.

But only 44.7 percent of the total 297,959 registered voters in the entire Surigao del Norte, including its component city of Surigao cast their votes in the Dec. 2 plebiscite that will decide the fate of making Dinagat Island as the fifth province of the Caraga Region.

The turnout of voters was considered to be the lowest so far in the history of political exercise in the province which has a total of 27 towns and one component city, Comelec Provincial Election official Joy Jonathan Senaca said.

"This is also our first time to hold a plebiscite like this. Generally it is the most peaceful and orderly so far," Senaca told The STAR in an interview at the Provincial Canvassing Center located at the third floor of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan building this city.

Earlier, proponents of the "no" to Dinagat provincehood have complained of alleged vote buying in the amount of P20 each, voters’ disenfranchisement, alleged report of flying voters and alleged coercion of some voters to vote for a "yes."

However the "no" proponents have not officially filed their complaints before the poll body.

In a live interview over local radio station DxRS, Jose Cabradilla, a "yes" advocate from Libjo, Dinagat Island who is reportedly running for mayor in the coming May 2007 elections thanked voters from mainland towns or towns found within mainland of Surigao del Norte despite the fact that majority voted for "no".

"This is our dream long overdue. The people of Dinagat Island have finally spoken, they wanted to decide their own fate," said Cabradilla.

Of the seven towns in Dinagat Island, five overwhelmingly voted for "yes." San Jose, the home of the PBMA which has the highest turnout of voters of about 91.9 percent of the total registered voters. Others are the municipalities of Basilisa, 82 percent; Dinagat, 79.2 percent; Cagdianao, 65.6 percent; Libjo, 55 percent; Loreto, 57.3 percent; and Tubajon 59.2 percent.

Dinagat Island’s seven towns has a total registered voters of 62,298 voters.

Siargao where the "no" votes won but has the lowest number of voters cast votes or actually voted with only 38 percent of the total registered voters of about 63,633. Here in Surigao City which has a total registered voters of 69,075, only 44 percent voted. "No" to Dinagat province votes prevailed over "yes" in the city.

At the Surigao del Norte’s mainland towns which composed of 11 municipalities namely, Sison, Tubod, San Francisco, Mainit, Placer, Alegria, Bacuag, Gigaquit, Claver, Malimono and Tagana-an, the "no" votes prevailed but only few out of the total 102,957 registered voters, only 31, 956 voted.