Witness seeks Comelec help vs cheating in Lanao del Sur town

A local resident from Tugaya, Lanao del Sur on Thursday came forward and asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to help prevent widespread cheating from happening again in their municipality once the special elections are set. Bai (not her real name) said that the polls in some areas in Tugaya were marred with poll violence on election day, giving some candidates the chance to manipulate the elections.
"Nakita ko po diyan yung kabastusan, kawalanghiyaan, kawalang-respeto sa gobyerno, kawalang-respeto po sa tao na katulad po naming mga botante na ni wala na kaming karapatan para makaboto (I witnessed meanness, shamelessness, disrespect for the government and disrespect for people like me who were denied even just the right to vote)," she told GMA News in an interview. Voting in three barangays in Tugaya (Buadi Alawang, Bubong, and Pagalamatan) was halted on election day, forcing the Comelec to declare failure of elections there. The poll body, however, has yet to set a date for the special elections in the area where there are 1,251 voters combined. Bai said that she personally witnessed a gunfight between the camps of two mayoral candidates on the morning of election day in one of the precincts in Tugaya. She said that one wanted to allow voters who did not have enough identification to vote while the other wanted to demand more documentary proof from voters. "Sa awa ng God wala namang nanggaling na putok sa baril (Thank God no shots came from the gun)," she said. But she said that the incident scared most of the voters, leaving almost no one in the clustered precincts. She likewise said that what happened gave some camps the chance to fill up some of the ballots and feed them into the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines. "May nagsamantala... binoto niya ang gusto niyang kandidato (Someone took advantage of this, they voted for their candidate)," she said, adding that PCOS units which were never even opened suddenly had votes when canvassing came. Bai said she hopes that the Comelec will be able to prevent widespread cheating from happening again. "Sana mapagsabihan po ang masamang tao na huwag na nila gawin yun... kung ano po yung mali, sana itama (I hope someone warns these evil men not to do that anymore… what was wrong should be corrected)," she said. The witness already gave a statement to the lawyers of the Comelec on Thursday. But she said that she is ready to go to court and testify about what she knows if she needs to. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, for his part, thanked her for coming forward to share the information, adding that the poll body will definitely prevent the incident from happening again. Comelec chairman Jose Melo said that even if some teachers refuse to serve as Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) again in the area, they will proceed with the special elections. "Baka ang kukunin natin, teachers from the outside o police trainees (Maybe we will get teachers from the outside or police trainees)," he told reporters in a chance interview. —JV, GMANews.TV