Village polls ‘peaceful,’ voter turnout 70% high - officials

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday afternoon said early estimates place the voter turnout for the village and youth elections at 70 percent, slightly higher than the last time the same elections were conducted in 2002. This, as authorities described the elections as one of the most peaceful and participated electoral exercise in recent years. In a telephone interview with GMANews.TV, Comelec officer-in-charge Resurreccion Borra said reports reaching the poll body indicated that the voter turnout reached 70 percent, although he noted that the poll body has yet to release an official figure on the turnout of voters for Monday’s elections. "Based on the estimate we got from our field people, the overall voter turnout is 70 percent or above. The final figure will be known after three days. The turnout is higher than the 68 percent turnout in 2002," Borra said. Comelec figures show that the total number of registered voters is placed at 51,343,731 - including 48,188,663 for the village and 3,155,068 for Sangguniang Kabataan polls - in 41,995 villages nationwide. As this developed, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday’s nationwide polls for village and youth officials was generally peaceful despite reports of minor violent incidents, cheating and failure of elections in some parts of the country. In a press conference, Director General Avelino Razon Jr, PNP chief, even described the conduct of the village and youth elections as the “most peaceful" and “widely-participated" in recent years. "The 2007 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will probably go down in history as the most peaceful and widely-participated electoral exercise in recent years," Razon said. According to Razon, seven election-related violent incidents were recorded during the day, resulting in the death of two people. This brings to 25 the number of people killed in 48 election-related violent incidents nationwide since the start of the election period on September 29. The nationwide tally likewise shows that 22 people have been wounded and one remain missing as a result of election-related violent incidents. PNP said the number of election-related violent incidents during the village and youth elections is fewer compared to the 159 incidents recorded during the last village elections in 2002, which resulted to the death of 75 people and wounding of 69 others. In the press conference, Razon said 348 people were apprehended for violating the Comelec gun ban, resulting in the confiscation of 303 firearms, eight explosives, 53 assorted deadly weapons and 3,099 ammunitions. "The generally peaceful outcome of the nationwide exercise today is largely due to the efforts of the Commission on Elections in instituting reforms in the electoral system with the assistance of the PNP, AFP, local government units and NGO's, and cooperation of the citizens," Razon said. Despite the peaceful conduct of the elections, however, Razon said he has directed his regional and provincial commanders to remain on alert for the counting and canvassing of votes. "Hopefully, we will be able to maintain the situation that we saw today with the polls already closed, voting done and counting already in progress or just started," Razon said. The two deaths in Monday's ERVI happened in Basilan province, wherein a barangay captain candidate and his supporter were shot by an unidentified suspect at around 12:45pm at the Badjao School Compound in Barangay Tampalan, Malamawi Island, Isabela City. The slain candidate was identified as Basher Maharan, while his supporter was only known as Hasan. The suspect was apprehended and recovered from him were two M16 rifles. The PNP also received reports of declaration of failure of elections in some areas in Sulu, Northern Samar, Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur, and Pasay City due to the failure of the Board of Election Tellers to show up. - GMANews.TV