NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Armed men reportedly identified with a candidate for barangay chairman attempted but failed to burn down a public elementary school in one of a dozen villages in Pikit town this province where special barangay elections were held yesterday.
Capt. Tony Bulao, spokesman of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, said the group that tried to set the elementary school in Barangay Bago Inged on fire is identified with a candidate for village chief who wanted the elections deferred to a later date.
Bulao said the armed men arrived at the school past 2 a.m. yesterday and tried to torch the two-classroom building using kerosene and dried coconut palm leaves.
The armed men hurriedly escaped after lighting with matches the kerosene they had poured around the school building.
But villagers, according to Bulao, managed to respond promptly and put off the fire before it could raze the building.
Barangay Bago Inged was one of a dozen barangays in Pikit town where special barangay elections were held yesterday.
Police said the arsonists escaped toward the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Delta, a known lair of criminal gangs, some of them engaged in extortion and kidnappings.
Elections in Barangay Bago Inged went on as scheduled despite the bungled arson attempt, according to Bulao.
More than a hundred policemen from outside Central Mindanao administered the special barangay elections, as the polls last Oct. 28 had to be reset due to security reasons and misunderstandings among voters on the venue of the balloting.