Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Polls in Talisay, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu peaceful
AN HOUR-LONG brown-out hit Talisay City at the height of yesterday’s barangay polls, affecting several private subdivisions and seven villages.
Cesar Melencion, of the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) transmission and distribution office, said the cross arm of an electric post at the back of the Gaisano Fiesta Mall in Barangay Tabunok suddenly broke apart, causing the power interruption at 12:53 p.m.
But the power outage, which lasted for one hour and 11 minutes, never disrupted the voting in various poll precincts in neighboring areas.
Veco then dispatched a five-man emergency team to fix the broken cross arm and restored power at 2:04 p.m., Melencion said.
An emergency team and live line specialists were put on standby to ensure brownout-free barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Melencion said the power interruption affected Barangays Tabunok, Dumlog, San Isidro, Biasong, Pook, Cansojong and some private subdivisions.
In yesterday’s election, complaints of missing voters’ names swarmed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Board of Elections Tellers (BET) at poll precincts in Talisay City.
Missing name
For one, Tabunok Barangay Captain aspirant Maning Cabriana told Sun.Star Cebu that Reynold Cabuenas, a son of his council bet, failed to see his name at the poll precinct where he voted during the May 14 local elections.
The Comelec, though, considered the problem of missing names as negligible, saying majority of those who complained still found their names either at the clustered or newly opened precincts.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, there were no reports of untoward incident or election-related violence in Talisay City.
In Mandaue City, voter turnout was expected to range from 75 percent to 85 percent, said Mandaue City Election Officer Ferdinand Gujilde.
Removed from list
Mandaue City has 154,468 voters in 766 clustered precincts distributed among 27 barangays,
Gujilde said some people were removed from the list of registered voters because they failed to vote in the last two elections or have changed addresses.
Gujilde said voting in Mandaue City was peaceful. Police, however, were dispatched to Opao Elementary School and Barangay Casili.
Acting school head Raul Llego said he called the police after hearing complaints that some of those who voted in Opao found that somebody else voted in their name.
Police, meanwhile, were sent to Casili because of a ballgame that turned violent, with people throwing stones. No arrests were made in the two incidents.
In Lapu-Lapu City, residents of Barangays Punta Engaño and Basak were surprised to find their precincts heavily-guarded by armed soldiers from the 78th Infantry Battalion and members of the Special Reaction Unit of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), Special Weapons and Tactics team, and City Traffic Management System (CTMS).
CPPO Director Carmelo Valmoria personally supervised the security setup in Punta Engaño.
The two barangays are bailiwicks of critics of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza.
Tension broke out at Punta Engaño when supporters of Barangay Captain Angel Rodriguez on board a multicab were blocked by CTMS. The misunderstanding, however, was resolved later and Rodriguez’s supporters were able to go to the polling place.
Lapu-Lapu City Election Officer Ann Janette Lamban said yesterday’s election was generally peaceful. But she could not say why voting in the two opposition bailiwick was heavily-guarded. (GC/OCP/AIV)
