NAMFREL says Maguindanao plebiscite ‘very smooth, peaceful’

The National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) on Sunday said the conduct of the Maguindanao plebiscite on Saturday to determine whether the province will be split into two, was generally smooth and peaceful.

In a Super Radyo dzBB interview, NAMFREL chairman Lito Averia said the arrival of voters in some voting precincts was slow in the morning, but they started flocking in the afternoon.

He also observed that COVID-19 protocols, such as physical distancing, were not followed when the plebiscite committee turned over the plebiscite returns and other materials to the municipal compound.

Aside from these, Averia said they did not receive any reports of untoward incidents surrounding the plebiscite which will decide if Maguindanao will be divided into Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur.

“Wala naman kaming incident reports, ‘yung untoward incidents o hindi kanais-nais na mga insidente. It’s very peaceful. Ang general assessment namin is ‘yung conduct ng plebisito is very smooth and peaceful,” he said.

(We don't have any untoward incident reports. It was very peaceful. Our general assessment was that the conduct of the plebiscite was very smooth and peaceful.)

This was echoed by Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Garcia, who said the Maguindanao plebiscite was not only peaceful, but also yielded a high voter turnout.

“Nakakatuwa talaga dahil wala kahit isang single na insidente ng violence o karahasahan para ang mga kababayan natin ay hindi makaboto, matakot, o hindi makapunta sa mga presinto. Sadyang dinumog ang mga presinto sa pagiikot nating kahapon,” he said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(It’s good to know there wasn’t even a single incident of violence that would result in our countrymen not being able to vote, being afraid, or not being able to go to the precincts. The precincts were crowded when we went around yesterday.)

Comelec acting spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said Sunday that the Maguindanao plebiscite would pose the second highest voter turnout for province-wide plebiscites, next to the electoral exercise that carved the Compostela Valley from Davao del Norte in 1998.

Based on the official plebiscite municipal canvass of votes, there were 712,857 out of 881,790 or 80.84% voters who participated in the plebiscite. A total of 707,651 or 99.27% voted “yes” to split the province and  5,206 or 0.73% voted “no.”

These are still subject to the full official canvass by the Plebiscite Provincial Board of Canvassers.

Laudiangco said they are hopeful that the proclamation will be done before noon on Sunday. —KG, GMA News