Sees over 80% turnout of voters
TACLOBAN CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Eastern Visayas declared the conduct of the May 12 elections as “successful” and “generally peaceful.”
Lawyer Ma. Corazon Montallana, assistant regional director of Comelec, reported that all 5,670 clustered precincts in the region opened at 5 a.m. as scheduled.
“All clustered polling precincts were fully functional and opened on time,” Montallana said in a press briefing on Monday afternoon, hours before the 7 p.m. close of voting.
Montallana projects that the voters’ turnout in Eastern Visayas, home to more than 3 million registered voters, will reach to more than 80 percent.
As of 2 p.m. Monday, about 177,926 senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and pregnant women had cast their votes. These priority groups were given an early voting window from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., although they were still allowed to vote during regular hours.
Montallana also reported no major issues with the vote-counting machines (VCMs), although some machines experienced minor scanner problems.
“The scanners of some VCMs malfunctioned due to dirt accumulation from the large volume of ballots,” she explained. “This issue wasn’t observed during the final testing and sealing because only a few test ballots were used then.”
Even House Speaker Martin Romualdez encountered the glitch when his ballot was rejected three times at his polling precinct at the V and G Dela Cruz Memorial School in this city.
Romualdez, who is seeking his third and final term as representative of Leyte’s 1st district, downplayed the incident, saying he was eventually able to feed his ballot successfully.
Montallana said no incidents of violence or harassment had been reported as of 2 p.m., further underscoring the region’s peaceful election day.
“As of now, we can confidently say the elections in Eastern Visayas are generally peaceful and orderly,” she said.
Montallana also said that as of 1 pm, all the board of canvassers have already convened.
However, as in previous elections, reports of massive vote-buying were widespread across the region, with amounts allegedly ranging from as low as P50 to as high as P15,000 per voter.
In Arteche, Eastern Samar, five men were arrested at around 5 a.m. in Barangay Tangbo after being found in possession of several firearms and handheld radios at a Comelec checkpoint.
The suspects were onboard a white Isuzu Elf truck when flagged down by checkpoint personnel. A visual inspection led to the discovery of two long firearms, three short firearms with live ammunition, three handheld radios with headsets, and other personal items.
They were immediately taken into custody and brought to the Arteche Municipal Police Station for proper documentation and legal proceedings.
JOEY A. GABIETA
