MARAWI CITY (MindaNews / 9 May) – Three persons were killed in just a matter of hours after the polling places opened in Malabang town, Lanao del Sur on Monday.
In Binidayan town, three supporters of a mayoralty candidate was shot and killed after an argument with supporters of an opposing candidate in Barangay Magonaya, according to Brig. Gen. Jose Maria Cuerpo, commanding general of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.
The Philippine Air Force flew “persuasion flights” over Malabang using the newly acquired Super Tucano plane and an MG-520 helicopter to ease the tension among the voters.
Commission on Elections Lanao del Sur Election Officer II Abdul Noor said one of the fatalities died inside the Jose Abad Santos Elementary School while the two others during a violence that erupted outside the Malabang National High School.
Noor said those who died are supporters of political rivals – Malabang Mayor Tomas Macapodi and Picong Vice Mayor Alinader Balindong, who is now challenging Macapodi. MindaNews has no details yet how Balindong crossed to another municipality.
In Binidayan, Noor said unidentified men destroyed five Vote Counting Machines in five barangays in Binidayan town.
“The suspects threw the VCMs into the concrete floor and tore the ballots afterwards,” Noor said.
Cuerpo said the three fatalities in Binidayan were apparently those who destroyed VCMs.
In Marawi City, Army soldiers stormed the Sultan Conding Elementary School inside the sprawling Mindanao State University campus Monday morning after receiving reports that the teachers were the ones who are filling in the ballots.
The soldiers found that the teachers were not applying the indelible ink on the fingernails of the voters who had just voted.
Seeing this, the soldiers manning the school gate took it upon themselves to apply the indelible ink of those who had just voted and on their way out.
“These people are very hardheaded. They do not want to follow the Comelec rule,” a soldier manning a gate said.
Last Sunday, Army soldiers intercepted 300 suspected “flying voters” and turned them away before they can enter Lanao del Sur. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
