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Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Failure of elections declared in 2 Basilan towns
By Bong Garcia
BASILAN -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared a "failure of elections" in at least two towns of the island province of Basilan.
Basilan is made up of Isabela City, the province's capital, Lamitan, Tuburan, Tipo-Tipo, Sumisip, Lantawan, Maluso, Al-Barka, Akbar, Ajul and Ungkaya Pukan.
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Al-Barka, Akbar, Ajul and Ungkaya Pukan are newly created towns that were crafted out of the municipalities of Tuburan and Tipo-Tipo through an act adopted last year by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm).
A report from the Regional Election Monitoring Action Center (Remac) in Camp Romeo Abendan in Zamboanga City said Armm election officer Teofisto Elnas decided to declare failure of elections in the two towns due to the "uncontrollable situation."
Remac covers the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi, which make up the autonomous region aside from the Zamboanga Peninsula that is composed of the provinces of Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, and Zamboanga del Norte and the cities of Dapitan, Dipolog, Pagadian, Isabela and Zamboanga.
The two towns, where failure of elections was declared, are Akbar and Sumisip. Poll-related violence had occurred in the areas before and during the conduct of the elections.
Hajarun Jamiri, a mayoralty candidate in the town of Akbar, survived an attack at 7:30 a.m. Monday when gunmen believed to be allied with his opponent opened fire while he was casting his vote in Barangay Semut.
One of Jamiri's followers died when he rushed to the mayoralty candidate's rescue while three other supporters were wounded. The gunmen managed to escape.
Unidentified gunmen, meanwhile, burned down the elementary school in Barangay Bakung in the town of Sumisip at around 2:00 a.m.
Three registered voters, including a relative of Anak Mindanao party-list Representative Mujiv Hataman, were also wounded in an ambush staged by gunmen allegedly allied with Hataman's political rivals.
Hataman's brother, Boy, is seeking reelection for mayor in the town of Sumisip while another brother, Jim, is a candidate for the lone congressional district of Basilan province.
Colonel Ramiro Alivio, 1st Marine Brigade chief, disclosed that firefight broke out Monday morning between two armed groups in the barangays of Basak and Buli-Buli.
Alivio said they were not yet able to identify the protagonists involved in the fighting. No casualties were reported.
He said it was also reported that fighting broke out Monday morning in Bubuan Island, Sumisip town.
Last Thursday, the Marines seized an M-60 machine gun, three M-16 Armalite rifles including one with an attached M-203, a Garand Rifle, and several rounds of ammunition in the town of Sumisip.
Lawyer Paisal Padate, the acting provincial election supervisor (Apes) in Basilan, was meeting with his staff and the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) to find solutions to the problems in Akbar and Sumisip towns. (Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (May 15, 2007 issue)
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