Maguindanao townsfolk assail ‘cheating’ in mayoral canvass

PARANG, Maguindanao — Hundreds of Muslim and Christian residents staged yesterday an indignation rally in front of the police headquarters of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) here, assailing the alleged cheating in the ongoing canvassing of this town’s mayoral votes inside the camp.

The protesters, who included Christian and Muslim religious leaders, demanded the immediate relief of Parang’s election officer, Ruwaina Sayyadi, for allegedly siding with a mayoral candidate whose tally of votes was said to have mysteriously increased in the last three days.

The group asked lawyer Clarita Callar, Region 12 director of the Commission on Elections, to replace Sayyadi with Estelita Orbase, election officer of Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

Orbase earlier acted as election officer in three hostile towns in Central Mindanao, where she proclaimed the winning candidates despite threats to her life.

The protesters displayed placards showing tabulations that retired Army Col. Vivencio Bataga was the one leading the mayoral race.

The rally organizers complained that Bataga’s overwhelming vote-lead over his three rivals has been surprisingly overturned after the local election personnel held a closed-door meeting with one of the mayoral candidates somewhere in the town proper.

Senior Superintendent Omar Ali, ARMM police information director, said their office will initiate a separate inquiry into the allegations of the protesters.

"Our regional director, Senior Superintendent Acmad Omar, wants this issue resolved peacefully and through traditional and religious means, to the benefit of all sectors," Ali told The STAR.

Ali, however, clarified that it is still the Comelec, not the ARMM police, which has jurisdiction over the issue.

He said that while the canvassing of election returns from four nearby Maguindanao towns are being held inside the regional police headquarters here, police officers are banned from the tabulation areas.