Lanao del Sur special polls: No issues so far  

MANILA, Philippines — No untoward incident was reported up to two hours before the close of polling precincts during the special elections held in 12 barangays in Tubaran, Lanao del Sur yesterday, according to the Commission on Elections.

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia said there was no reported problem in all the 12 barangays as of 5 p.m. yesterday.

”Many precincts have no more voters. They are just waiting for the time,” he said, referring to the end of voting hours.

Comelec acting spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said he had been in constant communication with the poll body’s Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao director Ray Sumalipao.

“Every hour, director Sumalipao sends his report to us that shows that there are no untoward incidents, not a single glitch or issue that came out,” Laudiangco said.

He said the poll body could proclaim the winning party-list groups by tomorrow if the results of the special elections in Lanao del Sur are transmitted today.

Comelec deputy executive director for operations Teopisto Elnas Jr. said they are hoping that the transmission of results and submission of the hard copies to the municipal board of canvassers as well as  the transmittal to the provincial board of canvassers will proceed smoothly.

”Hopefully, the provincial board can transmit tonight... so that we can consolidate the election results for the entire province of Lanao del Sur for the canvassing of the party-list system,” he said.

Elnas said the official ballots and supplies were distributed to the special board of election inspectors composed of policemen in three voting centers, which have 15 clustered precincts.

Up to 6,921 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots.

“There was no report as far as defective vote counting machines or defective SD cards. But even then, contingency SD cards and contingency VCMs were deployed in the three voting centers,” he said.

Full alert

Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon, Philippine National Police (PNP) Directorate for Operations head, said the entire town was placed under the highest security alert to prevent armed groups or individuals from sabotaging or influencing the results of the special elections.

“According to our monitoring, there have been sightings of armed men in some areas. My directive to our personnel on the ground is to ensure that these armed men are not given a single opportunity to carry out their nefarious plans,” he said.

De Leon personally supervised the security for the special polls in Tubaran. He said 718 policemen, including 171 Special Action Force commandos, 251 members of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion and 96 personnel from civil disturbance management teams, were deployed in the area.

The military dispatched around 400 soldiers.Military armored tanks were seen outside Tangcal Central Elementary School, one of the three polling centers with clustered precincts.

Voters had to walk around one kilometer to the polling precincts as security forces prohibited motorists from parking their vehicles near the sites.

They were allowed to enter the polling precinct one at a time and carry only their voter’s ID and other identification cards. –  Emmanuel Tupas, Roel Pareño