DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental announced that the conduct of the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections Monday was generally peaceful and smooth.
Contrary to early pronouncements that Negros Oriental was the number one priority in terms of security threat among the four provinces in the Central Visayas region, nothing untoward incident was reported, said provincial election supervisor Eddie Aba.
Central Visayas also consists of Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor.
“There was no election-related violent incident reported by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces,” he said.
The usual and common complaints, however, that the Comelec had received or monitored in the different barangays included the missing names of voters, transferred polling precincts, and other minor issues.
“Their names were deleted because they failed to vote in two consecutive elections,” he pointed out.
Polls officially closed at 3 p.m., although those who were already in the vicinity of their voting precincts were already asked to queue up for their turn to vote, he added.
Lawyer Aba could not yet give a percentage turnout of voters, as his office is still awaiting the official results from the different towns and cities in the province.
He cited all the stakeholders, such as the PNP, the Armed Forces, the Department of Education, volunteers and everyone who cooperated, especially the voters, to ensure the success of this year’s barangay and SK elections here. (Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA)
