A mayoral aspirant in Pualas, Lanao del Sur has filed a petition before the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) of Ganassi town to exclude several alleged flying voters in Pualas.
The aspirant filed a petition for exclusion from the list of voters in the 2025 elections after seeing a rise in the number of voters in nine barangays of Pualas.
Nearly 2,000 voters in Pualas were summoned by the MCTC to answer the petition.
Pualas is part of the jurisdiction of MCTC-Ganassi.
“Base sa among tabulation we are removing 2900 plus allegedly flying voters na nag register dito sa Pualas,” Atty. Mohammad Jihad Sarangani, legal counsel of the complainant, said.
“Ayaw ko po kami mahaloan kami ng hindi botante sa amin lalo na hindi doon naka tira, ayaw namin makihalo sa ibang munisipyo na hindi talaga naka tira sa amin,” a witness, Olingan Diama-at Goma, added.
Pualas is composed of 23 barangays and has nearly 10,000 voters.
A voter was surprised to receive a subpoena from the court as she claimed that she is a registered voter in the town since 2013.
“Nakabotar ako, matagal na ako dito register. Noong nagpa-register ako dito sa Pualas, nahirapan pa ako 2013, kung hindi ako nagreklamo sa Provincial Office, hindi ako ma-approve,” a voter, Anifa Suminangcad, said.
Provincial election officer, Atty. Ellis Miguel, said anyone can file a petition for exclusion if he or she notices irregularities related to the election.
He said this is part of the legal procedure.
The court is also set to conduct a series of hearings on the petition filed.
