DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Oct. 29 (PIA) – The conduct of the synchronized barangay polls and plebiscite in the province on Monday turned out to be smooth, in order and peaceful albeit the series of violence that struck Digos City few days before the elections.
The provincial Commission on Elections (Comelec) found no major problems and untoward incidents during the actual voting process since the opening of the polling centers at 7:00 am until voting ended at 3:00 pm.
Assistant provincial election officer Edgardo Sadili admitted though that the perennial problem for some voters having a hard time to look for their names on the voters’ list still persisted.
This concern, however, was promptly addressed by Comelec personnel, Sadili said.
He said many voters still flocked to the polling centers to elect their candidates and choose from between yes or no for the creation of Davao Occidental province, despite the threats of election-related violence prior to the elections day.
On late evening of October 26, two public elementary schools in Digos City were believed to be targets of arson after Molotov bombs were thrown in one of the classrooms that caused fire and partially damaged some school properties.
The first target of two unidentified suspects said to be onboard a Neo Yamaha motorcycle was the Don Mariano Marcos Elementary School in Barangay Zone 3, where one of the classrooms caught fire which was put off immediately by residents in the neighborhood.
Fortunately, said school was not used as a polling center.
Another Molotov bomb throwing target was the Isaac Abalayan Elementary School, a polling center at Barangay San Jose, where a window, curtain and plastic chair in a Grade V classroom were partially burned and damaged.
Josefina Cadungog, the school principal, said it was the first time of the school to encounter such violence, and that she expressed her belief that the motive was only to make threats.
“This is a school. The school is for children. They should spare the school from any hostility,” Cadungog has called on.
She said she was thankful that the guard on duty promptly responded to put off the fire and that the affected classroom was not maximized as a polling precinct.
The voting process in said school still continued systematically and peacefully.
Another harassment recorded by the provincial police was the strafing incident at the barangay hall in Barangay Matti, Digos City, which happened almost simultaneous with the Molotov bomb explosions in schools.
The strafing caused serious injury to barangay tanod Larry Lemios who sustained several gunshot wounds in different part of the body and has undergone medical treatment, according to the police report.
The series of violence prompted the provincial Comelec, the Provincial Peace and Order Council and the Provincial Joint Command Conference to impose curfew hours to tighten securities in the entire province during the barangay polls.
The curfew was lifted yesterday evening, said provincial election supervisor Atty. Ma. Febes Barlaan.
The Comelec, PPOC and PJCC also considered the hand grenade explosion at the residence of provincial prosecutor Atty. Artemio Tajon at Estrada St. in Barangay Zone II in Digos City on the eve of the election as election-related violence.
Police reported no casualty in the incidence, only damage in properties such as window jealousies and a vehicle.
Tajon was the vice-chair of the Provincial Board of Canvassers during the May 13, 2013 mid term elections. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)
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