BULUAN, Maguindanao – Police, military, and election authorities in Maguindanao are closely watching 119 of the 508 villages in the province for possible violence during the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election.
Lawyer Udtog Tago, Maguindanao provincial election supervisor, disclosed this during the provincial peace and order council meeting here Tuesday
Tago said the villages were classified as “areas of immediate concern” due to the presence of armed groups, intense rivalry among aspirants and occurrence of violence in the previous balloting.
The 119 villages are among the 832 barangays out of 2,490 in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) placed under close watch by authorities.
Senior Supt. Edwin Wagan, the Maguindanao police director, said several police officers have been trained by the Comelec to act as members of the electoral board should teachers refuse to serve due to affiliations by blood and affinity to local candidates.
Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu said he expects a peaceful electoral exercise because of military and police assistance, coupled with the residents’ growing voluntarism against criminality. (PNA)
