WPD helps keep the peace in Manila

Manila police reported a generally peaceful conduct of elections in the country’s premier capital yesterday, except for isolated reports of missing voters’ names and confusion on the locations of assigned polling places.

Huge turnout of voters was reported as early as 9 a.m. in several schools in Manila where the polling places are located.

Western Police District (WPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong attributed yesterday’s peaceful elections in the city to the deployment of 90 percent of Manila police force in the streets, as well as the putting up of police assistance centers near the polling places.

Bulaong said the presence of uniformed policemen in the streets and near the polling places had deterred the commission of election-related violence.

Manila police who will be guarding the counting of the ballots at the precinct level shall be armed with flashlights against any disruption of power, Bulaong added.

Voting promptly started yesterday at 7 a.m. and ended at 3 p.m. The counting of the votes immediately started after the last person inside the polling precinct had cast his ballot. The counting is expected to last until late at night.

Manila Mayor Lito Atienza cast his vote at the Rafael Palma Elementary School in San Andres. He appealed to voters to be vigilant and report any attempt to alter the result of the elections.

He, however, predicted an unprecedented landslide victory for his ticket under the Liberal Party (LP) which is allied with K-4 of President Arroyo.

Like many other voters, Norman Versoza, 57, from Baseco, Manila failed to find her name in the voters list in her precinct at the Manila High School in Intramuros, Manila.

"Ang tagal namin hinintay ang botohan, hindi pala kami naman makakaboto, Versoza told The STAR. Although she wore an identification card as poll watcher of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), Versoza said she was supposed to vote for President Arroyo, who helped her and her neighbor when fire destroyed their houses three times.

Versoza said she was the woman who took off her clothes in protest during an election after she and about 3,000 neighbors failed to find their names. As a result, they were allowed to vote.

Hindi na ko magkakapag-hubad ngayon kasi matanda na ako, said Versoza.

Interviewed by The STAR, almost all the voters, who failed to cast their votes, claimed they had their Comelec registration validated last June. They even showed their validation form.

Violeta dela Cruz, 20, was a transferree from Bacood in District 5 to Sta. Mesa in District 4. She had with her a validation form but she could not find her name in the voter’s list.

Dela Cruz’s case was similar to the cases experienced by a number of voters interviewed by The STAR.

Isabelita Carillo, a teacher from the P. Burgos Elementary School in Sta. Mesa and served as Comelec supervisor, admitted to have encountered problems, particularly voters who could not find their names.

The names of voters who failed to vote for two consecutive elections were considered not active and were not allowed to vote for this elections, Carillo explained.

Nelson Ramirez, a No. 2 nominee of the party-list Pinoy Overseas Party, could not find his name in the voters list in Barangay 667 Zone 2 in District 5. He maintained that he managed to validate his registration last year when he arrived from Hong Kong for a vacation. –Cecille Suerte Felipe, Nestor Etolle