DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 9 May) – Things were smooth for the Duterte family’s election day, with President Rodrigo Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte enjoying VIP treatment at their precincts at the Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School (DRANHS). Representative Paolo Duterte and brother Sebastian (“Baste”), the vice mayor who is now running for the top post, were likewise able to vote without problems.
Mayor Sara was the earliest voter among the members of the First Family, arriving at the DRANHS around 9 a.m., and casting her vote 20 minutes later.
Reelectionist Paolo started lining up at his precinct in Catalunan Grande around 9:30 a.m. and was able to vote by noon. Sebastian was able to vote around 11:45 a.m.
President Duterte arrived to fanfare in the afternoon, but strict security protocols still imposed. He voted a little past 5 p.m. The President was assigned a designated “historical chair” kept by DRANHS officials, the chair traditionally taken out every election.
The President and Mayor Sara were assigned to vote at precinct 1245A at the DRANHS. Pulong voted at precinct 0920A in Catalunan Grande. Baste, meanwhile, was assigned to vote in Catigan under precinct number 3046A.
Some Dabawenyo voters were not able to find their precinct numbers even if they claimed they were active voters who hadn’t missed an election.
A handful of voters trooped to the Commission on Elections office to ask why they were deactivated from the list of voters.
Around 7 a.m. of election day, a group of 20 voters from different parts of Davao City gathered outside the COMELEC’s first district office and tried getting their status reactivated.
Evelyn Catacutan, 57, of Dumoy, wondered why she is off the list.
Catacutan showed MindaNews a slip of paper she received from COMELEC personnel. On the piece of paper was written “Inactive. None.”
“How can I be none? Don’t I exist?” she complained.
According to Catacutan, she is a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo, a religious organization known to be bloc voters. “We religiously join elections every time it happens,” she said.
COMELEC personnel facing the complainants were powerless to help in most of the cases.
According to staff facing the complainants, it was no longer possible to reactivate accounts during election day, as it is not surprisingly the busiest of their work days.
One of the voters made it, though. A male voter from Poblacion walked out and showed a similar slip of paper that had a corrected precinct number.
A couple wearing Salamat PRRD shirts who asked not to be interviewed or quoted could hardly contain their disappointment. “You’re robbing us of our right to vote,” they told COMELEC personnel, in English.
Cyril Hioca, 37, a resident of Barangay 2A, had harsh words for the elections. After being told he was inactive, Hioca lost his temper and asked how it was possible, since he had never left city in the past five years.
Interviewed by local media, Hioca addressed the COMELEC: “Kaning automated nga elections ninyo? Loslos ni! (Your automated elections? [expletive]).” Hioca promptly walked out and angrily kickstarted his motorcycle parked nearby.
Ronillo Jaudian, 63, from La Verna, had a similar issue and was still waiting for the response from COMELEC personnel.
Some of those hoping for reactivation were relegated to manually look for their names on stacks of lists piled outside the COMELEC office, the papers at the mercy of the moisture of the tropical rains hitting the city for the past few days. (Yas D. Ocampo / MindaNews)
