Thousands vote in special barangay and SK elections in Marawi

Marawi City held its barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Saturday, with thousands of voters trooping to voting centers to take part in the exercise.

The Commission on Elections did not conduct the elections in Marawi City last May since many of the evacuees have yet to return to the city after the war against the ISIS-inspired Maute group.

Because the rehabilitation of the city is not yet finished and some residents have not gone back to the most affected areas, authorities placed 22 of the 24 barangays in a temporary relocation site on Ground Zero.

Thousands of voters went to the temporary learning center of Marawi Central Elementary Pilot School at the Bahay ng Pagbabago Temporary Relocation Site in Barangay Sangosongan to cast their votes.

Voting in some barangays finished early since candidates ran unopposed.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez on Saturday said 26 barangays had candidates for chairman running unopposed.

In the just concluded #BSKE2018 in Marawi, there were 26 brgys w/ unopposed candidates for punong brgy-26; brgy kagawad-19; sk chair-51 and sk kagawad-60.

First proclamation today was of a Brgy Chair who ran unopposed in Brgy Bangco. #ZeroFailures

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) September 22, 2018

He said the first proclamation of a winning barangay chairman was made in Barangay Bangco. The candidate ran unopposed.

Alleged flying voters

However, there was a commotion reported when alleged flying voters arrived at one precinct.

Board of Election Inspectors member Hidjarah Taratingan said she canceled the ballots of the alleged flying voters and had these marked as spoiled ballots.

Eventually, the watcher who barricaded the entrance to the voting center was made to leave and voting continued.

Major Palawan Miondas said the police had to fire warning shots to stop the commotion.

He said they will investigate the matter.

Alleged vote buying

Miondas said they also nabbed a man who carried election paraphernalia stapled with a P20 bill.

The suspect identified as Richam Carem Labiste Suba said he was given the flyers by mistake, but later said the P20 bill was for water and not for vote buying.

Senior Police Officer 3 Ali Rangiris, duty investigator of Marawi City Police Station, said they will investigate the suspect's claim as he may face charges of violating the Election Law. If found guilty, he may face a prison term of six months to one year.

Atty. Rey Sumalipao, regional election director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said on Saturday they are grateful that the suspect was arrested. He said allegations of vote buying have long been circulating.

Sumalipao said there are more or less 50,000 voters in Marawi City.

He said they were expecting a voter turnout of 60 percent since some evacuees have yet to return to their homes.

Sumalipao said there are 96 barangays in Marawi City but 50 of these had candidates for barangay chairman running unopposed.

Voting ended at 3 p.m.

Jimenez said all 177 precincts in Marawi City opened and closed on time.

All polling precincts in #BSKE2018 in Marawi opened and closed on time, with 177 out of 177 clustered precincts reporting successful closing of the polls, as of 3:40 PM. #ZeroFailures

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) September 22, 2018

—KG, GMA News