Comelec extends voting in Al-Barka, Basilan by 2 hours

AL-BARKA, Basilan — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) extended voting here by another two hours, or until 9 p.m., as security hitches on Monday morning delayed the opening of polling centers.

Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia announced the extension during a press briefing in Cotabato City on Monday.

According to Brig. Gen. Frederick Sales, commander of the Army’s 1101st Infantry Brigade, a group of armed men identified with one political faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), took positions on roads, preventing the delivery of election paraphernalia and the mobilization of poll managers for 31 clustered precincts serving 14,267 registered voters across all 16 barangays in the municipality, with nine designated voting centers.

READ: Voting delayed in Al-Barka, Basilan

Sales said the MILF members expressed apprehension that if the voting ensues in the town, there could be violence, believing that the exercise is rigged to favor their rival faction.

Sales added that they immediately coordinated with concerned mechanisms and individuals to defuse the tension, which momentarily affected the morale and sense of security of teachers who will oversee the voting process.

Garcia said the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity intervened to calm the situation.

By around 10:20 a.m., Sales said election materials were delivered to polling centers along with the teachers serving in electoral boards. He added that they augmented military forces in the area to defuse the teachers’ worries.

For Maluso town, Garcia said voting is suspended in 36 of 68 precincts after authorities discovered that the ballots there were pre-shaded. Fresh ballots are set to arrive in Zamboanga City from Manila, and then to Maluso.

The 36 precincts account for 16,563 voters, Garcia said./coa