TAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte: Except for minor glitches of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) units, Davao del Norte sustains the trend of a peaceful election that it has established since the immediate past national and local elections.
As of 2:00 p.m. Atty. Ma. Febes Barlaan, provincial election supervisor, assessed the conduct of this year’s national and local election in Davao del Norte as “generally peaceful” with no untoward incidents that could have otherwise disrupted the casting of votes.
All precincts opened as of 7:00 a.m. but isolated instances of PCOS malfunctions caused delays of the on-time casting of votes in Talaingod and in New Corella, but such delays lasted less than one hour, Atty. Barlaan said.
A PCOS unit in Brgy. Cogon in Island Garden City of Samal, at around 11:00 a.m., went wrong but the Provincial Election Office of the Commission on Election (COMELEC) was quick to dispatch a replacement. The casting of votes in Barangay Cogon, however, continued with members of BEIs safe-keeping the ballots in a box while waiting for the PCOS to arrive.
Other three PCOS units in Panabo City also had a glitch as reported by City Information Officer Narciso Jadraque but these were immediately checked.
Municipal information officer Alan Vale of New Corella also monitored the malfunction of PCOS Machine No. 23140005 of clustered Precinct 5 in Barangay Poblacion, New Corella leading to late start of vote-casting at 7:51 a.m.
In a separate interview, police provincial director PS Supt. Edgardo Wycoco confirmed that elections in Davao del Norte was done “orderly and peacefully” and that areas placed under close-watch of the police and the military authorities were relatively peaceful with no political violence nor any sort of conflict.
Wycoco revealed that he was with 1003rd Infantry Brigade commander Col. Buenaventural Pascual and Atty. Barlaan in visiting polling centers where members of police and military personnel were deployed as a way of assisting voters, pre-empting occurrence of any chaotic incident, and establishing police visibility.
The police together with the military joined their forces together in manning assistance desks and in deploying security teams while also preparing quick response teams (QRTs) at their respective headquarters, waiting on call to respond to any security emergencies.
On the other hand, Col. Pascual noted “peaceful and quiet” elections in Davao del Norte and even in Laak, Compostela Valley which is part of the area of responsibility of the 1003rd Inf. Bde.
He noted the same peaceful situation in peripheral areas in the municipality of Talaingod (at the borders of Bukidnon), in Kapalong and in New Corella towns (at the borders of Compostela Valley) and in Sto. Tomas and in Panabo City (at the borders of Davao City).
Pascual revealed encounters of his troops, particularly the 60th Infantry Battalion, with members of the New Peoples Army (NPA) belonging to Front Committee (FC) 33 operating in the Camade District along the municipalities of New Corella and Asuncion, and with that of NPA FC 34 which operates in Gupitan, Kapalong; in San Isidro and in Laak (Compostela Valley) .
“We were able to check their presence and activities which could otherwise threaten the holding of the elections,” he said. (PIA XI/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)
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