ARMM poll winners proclaimed today?

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos is confident that the newly elected officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will be proclaimed today.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Abalos said based on unofficial results, pro-administration candidates Zhaldy Puti Ampatuan and Ansanuddin Alonto Adiong are leading the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial race.

"The poll body hopes to complete canvassing and proclaim all the winners in last Monday’s elections tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said.

The Comelec has "so far canvassed 40 percent of the votes cast in Lanao del Sur," Abalos said.

Commissioner Florentino Tuazon, who is in charge of Maguindanao, told reporters that in his jurisdiction — which has 28 towns — Comelec personnel had already tabulated 96.5 percent of the returns from different polling sites as of 10:00 a.m. yesterday.

"We are now in the second stage of tabulations which is the provincial canvassing," he said. "After this, we shall have the regional canvassing of election returns."

Tuazon said they had initially placed Monday’s voter turnout in the province at 60 percent.

"This is not definite yet because we can only come out with the exact percentage of voting turnout as soon as we’re done with our municipal and provincial canvassing," he said.

Only election results from 47 barangays in Maguindanao remain to be canvassed by municipal tabulators, he added.

Tuazon said except for text messages reporting irregularities in some parts of Maguindanao, not a single, documented complaint has been received by his staff.

"This indicates that we had peaceful and clean elections in Maguindanao last Monday," he said.

Police Deputy Director General Ricardo De Leon, who is helping Tuazon oversee security in Maguindanao, said the police had not received any reports of election-related violence as of 10:30 a.m. yesterday.

"There were only slight delays in the conduct of the elections in some isolated areas, but these were due to very minor hitches which were also promptly addressed by the Comelec," he said.

Tuazon, along with De Leon and Col. Edgardo Gurrea, Interim Task Force Maguindanao commander, jointly opened the site for the provincial and regional canvassing inside the 32-hectare ARMM compound in Cotabato City.

A battalion-size contingent of Marines, Army troops and policemen have been deployed around the ARMM compound to secure the canvassing of votes.

In Lanao del Sur, a non-government organization had reported massive irregularities in several towns in Monday’s voting, which was also marred by indiscriminate firing of guns in one town, resulting in the arrest of a town mayor.

Samira Gutoc Tomawis, Muslim Youth Organization chairwoman, and a member of Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) reported that voters in Butig town were surprised to discover that the voting was already declared over in some towns shortly after it began.

In Lumbayanague town, Gutoc reported that the residents witnessed large numbers of people "substituting" for registered voters who had failed to arrive.

"No matter how hard we tried to monitor it so that there would be no irregularities, still the cheaters were able to do it," said Gutoc.

In Pualas and Bacolod-Kalawi towns, a politician’s wife was reportedly seen electioneering and handing "something" to voters before they entered the polling precincts. — With reports from John Unson, Lino de la Cruz