Power outage, delayed poll materials greet Lanao voters

MARAWI CITY — A power outage and delayed election paraphernalia greeted early voters here and elsewhere in Lanao del Sur yesterday.

Officials of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said there were reports that election materials arrived late in a number of towns, including Molundo and Dumalondong, and in at least one precinct in this city.

Police said a brownout struck this city at dawn yesterday; power was restored at 8 a.m., delaying the start of voting by an hour.

As of press time, no violent incidents had been reported. Uniformed personnel were closely monitoring the conduct of elections across the province.

The canvassing of election returns will be done in four venues: the Lanao del Sur provincial gymnasium, Mindanao State University (MSU) Integrated Training Center, Amai Pakpak Elementary School, and MSU Integrated Laboratory School.

At least five to 10 towns were assigned to each venue, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

Police said additional policemen were deployed to the towns of Pualas and Butig to defuse tension arising from the ambush-killing of a security escort and the wounding of two supporters of Pualas mayoral candidate Ali Basher Andamum last Friday.

In Butig, Marines and additional lawmen reinforced the local police in coping with potential violence that may erupt due to the highly contested mayoral race.