National Elections Generally Peaceful
The 2016 National elections that recently concluded a couple of hours ago was said to be “generally peaceful”, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Despite a tally of 164 politically motivated violence or Election Related Violent Incidents (ERVI) since January, it was considered nonviolent and orderly.
The primary report was a combination of occurrence of violence confirmed by the AFP’s Area Command stations all over the country. According to Brigadier General Restituto Padilla, the military’s National Election Monitoring Center counted 22 ERVIs that arose to 10 fatalities and three wounded, from midnight until 2 p.m. of May 9. Western Mindanao accounts for 1 ambush, 3 indiscriminate firing, 1 mauling, 3 shooting incidents, 3 arson, 3 explosions, and 1 apprehension of the registered ERVI’s.
Some of the provinces under the election watch list and monitored by the national police or the Election Watchlist Areas (EWA) include Lanao del Sur, Negros Oriental, Masbate, Pangasinan, Abra, Neuva Ecija, Maguindanao and Western Samar.
“In Lanao del Sur, we have 262 SBEIs (Special Board of Election Inspectors) and in Sulu we have 48. We also have 66 men in Pantar (Lanao del Norte), 75 in Lunungan, and 59 in Samar. So aside from the usual security detail, these are the numbers policemen who served as SBEIs,” PNP spokesman Wilben Mayor said.
Malfunctioning VCM’s and Massive Cheating, a National Elections Routine
Rumored cheating and a concert of malfunctioning Vote Counting Machines, or VCMs are customary for every Philippine election. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Spokesman James B. Jimenez confirmed that the reports of VCM’s malfunctioning are widespread, but that they are also taking measures to correct it.
“Well again, this is a situation that we have to keep on tracking. Remember these VCMs usually passed through final testing and sealing which is surprising now kung bakit nagkakaroon ng ganyan,”
As of 2:00pm, the Elections Commissioner Rowena Guanzon detailed that a total of 150 VCM’s need to be replaced and that the numbers may still go up as the elections ensues.
