Failure of elections has been recommended for 11 municipalities in the Visayas and Mindanao due to various reasons, among them the non-appearance of election inspectors, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Monday. Included in these towns are Masiu, Lumba-Bayabao, Lumba-Unayan and Tubaran in Lanao del Sur where members of the board of election inspectors (BEI) failed to show up, said Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez at a press briefing. Jimenez said they have yet to determine the reason behind the non-appearance of BEI members in these areas. Roan Libarios of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections said the election inspectors in Lanao del Sur could have failed to show up due to threats from local candidates. Lanao del Sur is among the five provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which has been placed under Comelec control due to serious armed threats and presence of paramilitary forces threatening to mount violence or commit election fraud.
Three more towns in Lanao del SurâMarogong, Bayang and Sultan Dumalondongâ have also been recommended for the declaration of poll failure due to still unknown reasons. Total failure of elections has also been recommended in the municipalities of Albarca and Sumisip in Basilan due to âopen hostilities" in these areas, Jimenez said without elaborating. Poll failure could also be declared in the towns of Guimbal in Iloilo and Pagsanjan in Samar after ballots were âinadvertently switched" there, Jimenez said. The Comelec en banc will come up with a decision later in the day whether or not to declare failure of elections in these areas, he added. Jimenez said the Comelec has 30 days to reschedule polls once the reasons for failure of elections in these areas disappear. The Omnibus Election Code defines failure of elections as a situation in which âthe election in any polling place has not been held on the date fixed, or had been suspended before the hour fixed by law." It also said that the suspension may also occur âafter the voting and during the preparation and the transmission of the election returns."
âwith Sophia Regina Dedace/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV