Barangay election held 'generally peaceful'

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - The nationwide single-day election for barangay heads in the country was "generally peaceful and orderly" despite sporadic gunfires in some parts and a few reported cases of ballot snatching, a government official said after the election.

The Philippine National Police monitored 64 cases of election- related violence on the election day, lower than the number of incidence in the 2010 barangay election, said Presidential Communications Operations Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr.

He urged the public to continue to keep its vigilance until the proclamation of winners.

President Benigno Aquino III led the 54 million voters in casting the votes for the village polls in northern province of Tarlac.

A total of 94,124 candidates vied for village captains while 715,012 for village councilors in around 42,000 villages nationwide based on the data from the Commission on Elections.

Violence marred the village elections in some parts of Central Mindanao. No one was reported killed or injured in the incidents, said Dickson Hermoso, spokesman of the Army's 6th Infantry Division.

Sporadic gunfires occurred at in Barangay Cabayuan in Maguindanao province around 7:30 a.m. In another case which occurred at around 3:40 a.m. Sunday, Hermoso said four classrooms of the Central Dinganen Elementary School in barangay Dinganen in Buldon were burned.

At around 10 a.m., unidentified armed men opened fire at a voting center in barangay Olandang in Midsayap town, in North Cotabato, said 602nd Brigade civil military operations officer Antonio Bulao.  

Meanwhile, there were reports of ballot snatching and vote- buying in some places, said Coloma, adding that all those who committed the wrongdoing would be held accountable.