COTABATO CITY – The plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law Monday was not just “generally peaceful” but “really peaceful,” a Commission on Elections official said.
Atty. Ray Sumalipao, director of the Comelec Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said they have not received any formal complaint as of midday of the elections and only Cotabato City experienced a three-hour delay in the opening of the polling precincts.
“It’s not only generally peaceful, it’s peaceful. No single complaint was received by the Comelec, except for Cotabato City where there was a delay, but the conduct of the plebiscite in the other areas was orderly,” Sumalipao said.
In Marawi City, the plebiscite started without delay inside the multi-purpose hall in Barangay Sagonsongan.
Even without proper facilities, Marawi evacuees trooped to vote at the polling center and made do with the floors of the temporary shelters. The city government of Marawi also provided free rides to voters to ferry them to their voting precincts.
Sumalipao said a delay of around three hours was experienced in some polling precincts here after some teachers failed to report. Seventy-two Philippine National Police personnel replaced the 72 teachers in 24 clustered
precincts who did not show up after reports of intimidation.
He said there were reports that the teachers received threats through text messages. Sumalipao said the safety issues “was the common reason” why members of the plebiscite committee failed to report at the precincts.
Sumalipao said they reported the delay to the Comelec En Banc at the Comelec Central Office in Intramuros, Manila that will decide on the extension.
But he said voters should make sure their names are listed by 3 p.m. so that they can be allowed to vote even when the 3 p.m. schedule of the closure of polling precincts has lapsed. “We are waiting for the guidelines. But if there are still voters by 3 p.m., we will allow them to vote even beyond 3 p.m.,” he said.
The delay in the 24 clustered precincts covers six barangays and around 8,000 voters. Cotabato City has 37 barangays and 374 clustered precincts with 113,751 registered voters.
At the Cotabato City Institute in Barangay Poblacion 1 here, tension rose when Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Siyadi, who was vocal against the BOL, said she received a complaint from a certain Bella Roldan against a teacher who served as member of the plebiscite committee.
The mayor presented the complainant and asked her to narrate the incident. Roldan accused the teacher identified
as Bai Malejah Sulvan of changing her vote from “No” to “Yes” without her consent.
She said she insisted to Sulvan that her vote was no but the teacher did not listen and instead she was asked to just drop the ballot inside the box. Guiani-Sayadi escorted the complainant to the precinct were Sulvan served and confronted the teacher.
During the confrontation, Sulvan denied the allegations and explained that she only asked the voter if she was not able to write.
But Roldan retorted to the teacher that she already told her that her vote was no. However, she noticed three letters in the ballot, which made her conclude that her vote was manipulated.
Guiani told Sulvan that she should not be meddling in the poll process because they should be neutral. Sulvan apologized said she will just exchange her vote to the vote of Roldan since she had not voted yet.
Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the proper way of handling the dispute is by raising the concern to the election supervisors.
“There are DESOS there that they can talk to,” Jimenez said. “These people are performing functions and if their time is monopolized because they are being harangued, not even harangued, but because someone is talking to them and are taking their attention, then they are not serving everyone else,” he said.
The PNP also said the BOL was generally peaceful despite several reported bombing incidents and harassment.
“The plebiscite for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law went under way as scheduled on the first working hour Monday in 1,157 voting centers in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi; and in 71 voting centers in Cotabato City and Isabela City in Basilan,” said PNP chief, Director General Oscar Albayalde, in a press briefing in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Albayalde said 6,698 police personnel were deployed to provide security and assistance to an estimated
2.1 million registered voters who were expected to troop to polling centers in 2,572 barangays until the close of polling hours at 3 p.m. (Zea C. Capistrano with reports from Armando Fenequito, Bonita L. Ermac, and Martin Sadongdong)