Strafing halts voting in Maguindanao village
• 22:06 PM Mon May 9, 2016
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By:
NDBC
Detainees of South Cotabato provincial detention and rehabilitation center cast votes on Monday. (Roel Osano)
PAGALUNGAN, Maguindanao -– Voting in a public
school was briefly shutdown when voters scamper for safety after unidentified
men fired their guns near Barangay Inug-og here.
Senior Inspector Blayn Lumase, Pagalungan town
police chief, said gun fire were heard about 12:30 p.m. near Inug-og Elementary
School briefly stopping the election process for about 30 minutes.
Udjak Ande, village chair, said the armed men were
supporters of a local candidate.
Voters scampered for safety, some were seen running
away from the school,” Ande told reporters.He led his villagers to safer grounds until the local police arrived.
The armed men were about 50 meters from the school, he
said. Nobody was hurt, police said.
Lumase said voting resumed at about 1 p.m. with
police and military personnel securing the voting center.
Earlier, a rifle grenade was fired near Mamasabulod Elementary
School in nearby Barangay Damalasak, also in Pagalungan town while a mayoral
candidate was voting at past 7:30 a.m. Monday. (Edwin Fernandez)