After very peaceful” special election in Maguindanao, voters prefer cops as BEIs
Breaking News • 14:32 PM Sun May 15, 2016
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By:
Ferdinandh Cabrera
BEI cops. Police officers administer balloting in special polls in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. (Ferdinandh Cabrera)
SULTAN KUDARAT, Maguindanao– Voters here would prefer the next
elections in this town will have police officers as members of the Board of
Election Inspectors (BEIs).
This after a special election Saturday in Barangay Katuli here
started and ended peacefully and without any untoward incident, unlike on
election day when voters’ lives and those of poll workers were threatened.
Voting went on smoothly without delays and without any
problem,” Estilleta Orbase, Sultan Kudarat election officer, said after about
700 voters successfully cast their votes today.
Special polls were also held in Panglima Estino in Sulu and
Binidayan in Lanao del Sur.
On May 9 national and local elections, about 20 men, some of
them were armed, barged inside the clustered precinct in Barangay Katuli,
pre-shaded the official ballots and hauled the Vote Counting Machine.
BEIs watched in fear as the men took away the election paraphernalia
as voters fled from the Maguindanaon Elementary School.
The VCM has not been recovered.
Orbase said the results have no bearing in the local politics
but it has implications in the vice presidential contest and in the partylist
elections.
Rizalina Esmael, a voter in Barangay Katuli, said all the voters
wanted on election day is a peaceful and orderly environment.
We experienced and personally witnessed that in today’s special
elections, you see very orderly and we are safe too,” she said. Hopefully,
next elections, the BEIs are composed of police officers to ensure safety of
all.”
Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, 6th Infantry Division
commander, also lauded the election stakeholders for the successful and
peaceful local elections.
He said the military recorded only 15 election related incidents
(ERVs) in its area of operation as compared to 34 ERVs in 2010 and 38 ERVs in
2013.
Colonel Romeo Brawner Jr, commander of Task Force CHOP (Clean,
Honest, Orderly and Peaceful) elections, said the voters have matured and that
violence should not interfere in a democratic way of choosing leaders.
(Ferdinand Cabrera)