Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos ordered a town mayor in Lanao del Sur arrested for obstructing the elections.
Brig. Gen Reymundo Ferrer, Basilan military commander, reported that a man had snatched 300 unfilled ballots from a polling center in Barangay Tumahubong in Sumisip town.
There were protests to defer the elections and the delivery of ballots to two towns in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur was delayed.
Despite such incidents, the Comelec declared yesterday’s elections to be "generally peaceful and orderly."
In fact, the elections were "the cleanest ever in the ARMM," the poll body reported.
At Malacañang, President Arroyo vowed yesterday to support whoever wins in the ARMM elections.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo did not endorse any candidate in the ARMM elections to give every candidate a fair and even chance.
"The President believes in genuine autonomy founded on the freedom of choice exercised by the people themselves," he said. "Whoever is elected will get the full support of the President and the national government."
Political leaders in the ARMM, particularly those identified with the administration, understand Mrs. Arroyo’s neutral stance, he added.
In Basilan, though, the local Comelec office declared a failure of elections in at least 10 barangays in Tuburan town.
Commissioner Mehol Sadain, who is in charge of Basilan, said they had uncovered about 1,000 fraudulent votes since Sunday night.
"We found out the signatures and thumbmarks were the same in the certificate of voters," he said. "Medyo involved ang mga barangay captains (The barangay chairmen were involved)."
The teachers, who act as election monitors, were probably intimidated, he added.
A policeman, Senior Police Officer Efren Dulot, died at Lamitan Hospital in Basilan yesterday after he was shot by an unidentified gunman.
Investigations showed the shooting was not election-related.
Marine Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, Task Force Hope (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) commander, said Macabatu had delayed the distribution of election paraphernalia in his town.
"It was Commissioner Benjamin Abalos who ordered his arrest," he said.
Dolorfino said Macabatu allegedly threatened Comelec personnel and teachers for refusing to circumvent election procedures to favor a relative aspiring for a seat in the ARMM assembly.
Macabatu and his men fired their weapons in the air, causing panic and commotion in the town, he added.
Responding Marines and policemen later disarmed Macabatu’s bodyguards, Dolorfino said.
In Maguindanao, troops secured the South Upi town hall after about 200 people barricaded themselves inside the building to prevent election workers from distributing voting materials.
The protesters were demanding the postponement of the ARMM elections because disputes from the 2004 municipal elections remained unresolved.
Dolorfino said the elections in the hinterland town were suspended for some three hours after thousands of residents protested the delayed resolution of a municipal electoral controversy that has left them without duly-elected officials since last year.
"But the issue had been settled after a dialogue between the Comelec and the leaders of different sectors there," he said.
Leaders of various sectors in South Upi agreed to disperse after Comelec officials assured them they would look into the electoral dispute involving three mayoralty candidates immediately after the ARMM elections.
Sadain said the Comelec is preparing charges of electoral fraud against 10 barangay chairmen in at least 10 villages in Tuburan town in Basilan.
"They took the ballots since last night, filled (them out) and voted," he said. "Gabi pa lang tapos na ang botohan (The voting was already over the night before the elections)."
Comelec officials discovered the anomaly after the teachers reported the incident to Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin, he added.
Commissioner Florentino Tuason said the Comelec has allowed an extension of elections in South Upi, from 7 a.m. to 12 noon today to enable residents to cast their votes.
Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan, provincial peace and order council chairman, said they had not received any reports of violence in any of Maguindanao’s 28 towns as of 1:30 p.m. yesterday.
"We are optimistic we will have a high voter turnout in the province," he told reporters in the Maguindanaon vernacular.
In Paglas, Maguindanao, ballot boxes did not arrive until 12 p.m. yesterday, preventing more than 3,300 voters from casting their ballots.
In Kabuntalan town, also in Maguindanao, voting paraphernalia could not be distributed because the waters surrounding the marshland municipality were too low for sea vessels to enter.
An election lawyer appealed to Abalos yesterday to initiate immediate action to solve the problem in South Upi.
Lawyer John Rangal Nadua said around 7,000 residents of South Upi had reportedly "hostaged" the election paraphernalia at dawn yesterday.
The residents were demanding the immediate proclamation of the winning candidates in the 2004 mayoral elections.
The residents, all registered voters of the town, maintained they would not participate in the ARMM elections unless the Comelec in Manila releases a resolution agreeing to their demands.
It will be recalled that election officer Haidy Mamalinta had proclaimed mayoral candidate Datu Israel Sinsuat of Lakas-Muslim Christian Democrats as the "real winner" in the South Upi mayoral polls last year.
The other mayoral candidates were Jovito Martin and Antonio Gunsi, who were allegedly "disqualified" by the Comelec 2nd Division to run for mayor of South Upi for being "non-registered residents" of the town.
Martin and Gunsi questioned Sinsuat’s proclamation, claiming it was illegal and not in accordance with the law.
The Comelec is still in the process of deciding the matter.
The ARMM encompasses the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, and the city of Marawi.
It was granted autonomy in a 1996 peace treaty that ended the Moro National Liberation Front’s decades-old armed secessionist campaign.
All ARMM governors since 1996 have been MNLF members.
About one million people registered to vote for a new governor, vice governor and 24 members of the legislative assembly of the ARMM.
More than 8,000 polling precincts opened at 7 a.m. yesterday across the five ARMM provinces.
Military and police forces were on alert to thwart possible attacks by the Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for deadly bomb attacks in the past.
More than 500 barangays were being closely watched because of their records of political or electoral violence, clan rivalries and the presence of insurgents.
The United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand also sent election observers to the ARMM. — With reports from Mayen Jaymalin, Edith Regalado, Lino dela Cruz, Richel Umel, Ramil Bajo