CALBAYOG CITY- The conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on this ‘hot spot’ city turned out to be its most peaceful compare to previous balloting.
In fact, during the actual day of voting on May 14, there was no incident reported that could have disrupted the orderly and peaceful barangay and SK elections.
This city, composed of 157 barangays, has always been tagged as a ‘concern area’ or hot spot during elections due to series of killings said to be politically-related.
But city elections officer Dainty Calagos said that this year’s elections were successful and orderly as there was no report of violence during the balloting.
All the winners coming from the 157 villages of the city were proclaimed.
However, just like in other parts of the country, vote-buying was also monitored to have taken place in all of the city’s villages, despite appeal from the Commission on Elections and other sectors, to include the Church, against vote-buying.
The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army in the region deployed their respective forces in the city to ensure that its elections would be violent-free.
Their presence were welcomed by the people of the city as this provided them security as they headed towards their respective polling precincts.
“The good disposition and spirit of sportsmanship exhibited by most of barangay candidates in the city (during the) elections is gratifying and commendable,” Senior Supt. Leonardo Suan, deputy regional director for operations, said.
(JAZMIN BONIFACIO)