ILOILO City – Yesterday’s synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) were peaceful – from the distribution of election paraphernalia to the start of voting at 7 a.m. until its closing at 3 p.m. and as of 6 p.m. while the counting of ballots took place, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 6.
Comelec-6 director Atty. Dennis Ausan said there have been no grave election-related incidents in six provinces and two highly urbanized cities of Western Visayas.
“For the entire region naging matawhay kag malinong kag masulhay ang pagpadalagan or pag-manage sang aton nga barangay elections halin kaina sang umpisa… So far wala kita sang mga dalagku nga balita from the six provinces of the region,” Ausan told Panay News yesterday.
The Comelec regional director received information about an incident in Barangay Cahigon, Calinog, Iloilo but he has yet to receive an official report from the election supervisor in the area. He added this is still under validation and investigation.
“Sa subong until wala kita sang may gin-declare or pronounce nga election-related nga insidente so it remains so nga amo sina kag ang iban nga insidente nga gin-report sa aton are all under investigation,” Ausan explained.
He said Comelec had closed the voting at exactly 3 p.m. except for those with registered voters within the 30-meter radius of the polling place.
As of this writing, Ausan has not received any complaints about legible voters who were not catered to or could not vote.
During the voting process, he admitted that issues arose, such as voters being unable to find their names on the voters list due to the crowd.
Here, he noted the advantage of Comelec’s recently launched online precinct finder.
“What is most notable ang aton pag-activate sang precinct finder nga nangin daku gid nga bulig. Through our precinct finder they were able to find their names and cast their votes,” Ausan said.
The Comelec-6 has attributed the success of the elections to the long preparation time.
The poll body has been preparing in early 2022 after BSKE was first set on Dec. 5, 2022. It was only later extended to Oct. 30 this year, which gave ample time to finalize security and contingency plans.
He also attributed the cooperation and support of stakeholders, including the candidates and voters.
“May ara gid man nga nagakalipat nga mga kandidato sa pagsunod sang regulasyon but generally ang kadam-an sang aton kandidato nagsunod gid sa aton regulasyon nga ginpatuman,” Ausan said. “Sa aton mga botante nakita naton ang enthusiasm sa pag-participate sa sini nga piniliay and very excited to participate at the same time to protect their votes. That has inspired us to really work harder para maproteksyonan ang ila boto.”
With these, the Comelec-6 through Ausan thanked the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine Coast Guard, and volunteers, who kept the peace.
He thanked the Department of Education personnel for their service, too, as well as the Philippine Red Cross and Department of Health.
Zero election-related incidents in Iloilo City
Jonathan Sayno, Election Assistant II of Comelec-Iloilo City, through coordination with the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO), has confirmed there were zero election-related incidents across the 180 barangays in the city.
There were only minor inconveniences, including a slow voting process in the first few hours and voters who had difficulty finding their names on the posted Election Day Computerized Voters’ List.
Finally, Sayno urged the 6,897 candidates for BSKE in the city to take the election results with respect and sincere acceptance.
“Kon ano gid man, ilabi na gid sa mga kandidato nga mapaslawan ukon indi makakuha sang mataas nga boto para mangin isa ka barangay official, batunon naton ang resulta sang election, respetuhon ang decision sang aton voters kon ano ila decision sa pagpili sa aton kay ang mga tawo ang may poder nga magbutang sa puesto para makaserbisyo kita,” he said.
For his part, ICPO director Colonel Joeresty Coronica has earlier ordered the police station commanders of all districts to submit a report by 3 p.m. to assess the conduct of elections in their jurisdiction.
“Until now, wala pa kita sang report [on violence] nga nabaton… Sa subong wala man sang reported vote-buying… That means our 2023 BSKE, as of report time, is generally peaceful,” Coronica said.
To ensure the elections conclude safely and smoothly, the city police director said security will remain at each polling precinct to ensure that both sides of political opponents are “settled,” particularly when the winning candidates are proclaimed.
The ICPO has allocated two police personnel per polling place to secure the elections, along with personnel from other agencies, the Quick Response Team and volunteers./PN
