Foreign observers denounce violence in Lanao Sur

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines  – The death of three persons in Tugaya, Lanao del Sur on election day prompted a group of foreign observers to denounce yesterday the balloting in some parts of the province.

In a statement, the People’s International Observers’ Mission (Piom) and Healing Democracy Project’s Kapamagompong expressed dismay over the violence that occurred in Tugaya town.

Piom is composed of poll observers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan and the Philippines, who covered the electoral process in the Lanao towns of Sultan Dumalongong, Masiu, Lumbayanague, Butig, Ramain, Taraka, Camalig and Tugaya.

Majority of the residents in the two Lanao provinces belong to the Maranao ethnic group.

While the foreign observers were impressed with the Bangsamoro people’s eagerness to vote, specifically in Tugaya, they, however, were dismayed by the gunfight in Tugaya that left three people dead and three others wounded as well as a number of poll violations.

Fr. Joey Evangelista of Healing Democracy said it was disappointing that policemen stationed in Tugaya did not do something to prevent the shooting.

Evangelista said a police officer near the scene was seen pointing the muzzle of his M-16 rifle on the ground and smoking a cigarette while gunshots broke out.

The groups also observed that a number of polling precincts opened late, balloting was disorganized in some polling places, and that some precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines malfunctioned.