Violence plagues Lanao special polls

Scattered incidents of violence plagued the special elections held in Lanao del Sur and other areas in Mindanao yesterday, preventing polling in at least one town, officials said.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos said the special polls went on “smoothly despite a little commotion.”

Amid the massive deployment of troops and policemen to secure the special polls, there were sporadic incidents of violence that earlier forced the Comelec to declare a failure of elections in several towns in the province.

No polls were conducted in the town of Butig because election officials and even voters failed to show up due to the security situation, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said.

Initial reports said elections in some barangays in Taraka and Madalum towns were also suspended due to sporadic gunfire and mortar attacks.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said elections in Butig town have been rescheduled for today due to threats received by members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) from certain politicians.

Goltiao said politicians in Butig, which is locked in bloody clan wars involving influential families, disagreed on the clustering of polling precincts.

Officials also said the designation of policemen to act as BEIs caused the misunderstanding that forced poll officials to call off the elections for today.

Armed gangs belonging to political warlords and Muslim extremist groups all operate in Lanao, often using force to influence elections.

The town of Butig, on the other hand, hosts Camp Busrah, the second largest enclave of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The MILF earlier said they had taken a hands-off policy in the conduct of the elections in the region.

Just after the polls opened yesterday, local radio stations reported that two people were wounded in a shooting incident in the Lanao town of Pantar but it was not immediately clear if this was related to the polls.

One soldier identified as Cpl. Samson Catacutan who was guarding a polling station was shot and wounded by armed men trying to disrupt the vote in Pualas town while four mortar rounds hit the Masiu town hall.

Three barangays in Taraka town were also forced to cancel the elections due to sporadic gunfire meant to scare off voters.

ARMM police spokesman Superintendent Danilo Bacas said a firefight occurred between government troops and heavily armed supporters of local candidates in Pualas.

“The soldiers escorting the poll personnel to a remote area in Pualas were fired upon, triggering the brief encounter,” Bacas said.

Bacas said the firefight ended after the attackers withdrew after running out of ammunition.

Local officials said some of the armed men were MILF guerrillas who have relatives as candidates in the local elections.

In the two villages in Sumisip town in Basilan, the special elections did not push through despite the heavy security.

The special polls scheduled in the villages of Akbar and Bakong in Sumisip were moved today due to the series of gun attacks.

Officials stressed the results of the elections there would not affect the standing of the candidates in the local polls.

To prevent another suspension of elections, thousands of special troops have been deployed in the Lanao towns to guard the vote.

The special elections were held in the towns of Bayang, Lumbatan, Madalum, Binidayan, Pualas, Sultan Dumalondong, Lumba-Bayabao, Maui, Kapai, Lumbayanague, Butig, Maruging, and Kapatagan.

There are more than 96,000 registered voters in Lanao del Sur but Abalos claimed he could not readily ascertain how it would affect the fate of the candidates tailing in the senatorial race.

According to Abalos, the certificates of canvass from the province would no longer be brought to Manila for the national canvassing but to Marawi City, in the presence of poll watchdogs and representatives of various political parties.

The National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), meanwhile, claimed their volunteers were prevented by armed men from entering the polling precincts in Lanao yesterday.

According to Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia, several of their volunteers were prevented by armed men in fatigue uniforms from witnessing the special elections.

“We are still not sure whether the heavily armed men were government forces or members of private armies, but many of them were in fatigue uniforms,” Alvia said.

The congressional and local elections, covering 13 towns of Lanao del Sur, took place almost two weeks after the May 14 elections  

Thousands of government security forces were deployed in Lanao to ensure peaceful and orderly elections in the 13 towns that could affect the ranking of senatorial candidates from the 11th to the 13th positions.

It is estimated that 70,000 to 100,000 votes could be cast in the elections, possibly influencing the efforts of the administration to claim a majority in both houses of Congress.

The Comelec has deferred the canvassing of the COCs from Sulu, Taguig-Pateros, North Cotabato, South Cotabato and Davao del Sur due to discrepancies in the number of votes, registered voters and number of precincts.

The poll body has also deferred the canvassing of COCs for Maguindanao, which is now the subject of allegations of massive cheating and harassment. 

The province reportedly delivered a 12-0 vote in favor of the senatorial candidates of Team Unity. The votes cast in this province are estimated at 300,000.

The opposition fears the special balloting in Mindanao, which has a reputation for fraud-tainted polls, could give President Arroyo and her allies the potential to claw back a win. - Lino de la Cruz, John Unson, Roel Pareno, Jaime Laude, Karlo Baylosis, Delon Porcalla, AP and AFP