Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Vote-buying, fights spoiling twin polls By Danilo V. Adorador III
VOTE-buying and unfair election practices marked the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in several areas in Northern Mindanao, though officials said the twin polls had been orderly and generally peaceful.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Regional Police Director Teodorico Capuyan said elections in Northern Mindanao were conducted "peacefully and orderly," noting that no major incidents were reported throughout the day.
Although three election related violence were recorded in the region, Capuyan said the incidents did not disturb the conduct of the elections even on those areas where the violence occurred.
In the Misamis Oriental town of Lagonglong, residents reported that gunshots were heard proximate to the polling precincts.
The report though had yet to be verified, as the PNP Provincial Police Office said they had not yet received reports on the matter.
Tensions also erupted in rural Barangay Taglimao in Cagayan de Oro after several voters complained that the husband of a candidate had threatened to kill them if they would not vote for his wife.
Witnesses also reported massive vote-buying activities and other illegal campaign acts.
In Cagayan de Oro, Election Registrar Stalin Baguio ordered the police to verify reports of vote-buying activities in sub-urban villages of Macasandig and Carmen.
No one was apprehended when police responded but authorities spotted supporters of several candidates handing out elections paraphernalia even inside polling places, Baguio said.
Distribution of campaign materials is only allowed several meters away from the voting precinct.
The local Commission on Elections (Comelec) office also received reports of vote-buying in other barangays, but Baguio said they can only act on the matter if a formal complaint is filed.
Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro sources said buying of votes in Cagayan de Oro start from P40 to P300 –- with barangays Carmen and Macasandig as said to be among places offering as much as P150 to P300 per vote.
A source in Barangay Macasandig said a certain candidate for barangay chairman paid as much as P300 per voter who would vote straight for his line-up.
"It's relatively bigger compared to other barangays but you have to vote for the barangay chairman and his seven candidates in the barangay council," the source said.
Voters throughout the region had a common complaint: their names were not found in the precincts assigned to them.
Baguio explained that the problem could have either been due to the re-shuffling of precincts, or that the voter has been de-listed "because he has not voted in at least two successive elections."
Of over 225,000 registered voters, Cagayan de Oro has a projected turnout of 80-85 percent based on initial figures -- comparably bigger than the last barangay and SK elections, Baguio said.
