Poll turnout heavy

A heavy voter turnout was reported in yesterday’s elections, one of the most hotly contested in years, with roughly 85 percent of the 36.5 million registered voters casting their ballots, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.

The Comelec also rated the conduct of the elections as "generally peaceful" with only minor hitches such as missing voters‘ names and pockets of violence reported across the country.

Malacañang said yesterday’s activities were "really remarkable," particularly in view of the recent political upheaval that saw the downfall of former President Joseph Estrada and the takeover of his vice president and constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

"So far, by and large compared to past elections, it’s okay," said Comelec Chairman Alfredo Benipayo.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Leandro Mendoza said despite the intense rivalry between the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) and the opposition Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PnM-LDP) coalition, the 1998 election that catapulted Estrada to the presidency was "bloodier."

He added they were "bracing for tensions" during the counting of votes.

"It was very successful ... many people voted. There were long lines in the precincts," Mendoza reported.

Benipayo said most of the problems relayed to the poll body‘s central office in Intramuros, Manila were immediately resolved.

Even the people’s poll watchdog National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) expressed satisfaction that voting was "fairly free and peaceful."

"There are structural problems because some people had difficulty finding their names and some failed to vote because of this," Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion said following a consultation meeting with Comelec officials.

"The President would like to say that she is pleased with the conduct of the elections where over 30 million Filipinos managed to vote in over 200,000 precincts, and we would like to congratulate the Comelec, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police for making sure that this election is relatively peaceful," Tiglao told reporters in Malacañang..

The polling centers closed at 3 p.m., but this was extended in some areas where precincts opened late.

At least 83 people were killed in election-related violence nationwide in the runup to the polls, but there were only scattered disturbances that marred voting yesterday, the Comelec noted.

"We have to congratulate ourselves given all political volatility in the past several months. It’s an amazing feat for us being able to conduct an election (in this manner)," Tiglao added.

Meanwhile, bickering within the Comelec hierarchy continued to plague the poll body until yesterday.

Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco blamed her colleagues for the confusion that marred the voting, saying the problem could have been eliminated with the implementation of her Precinct Mapping Project (PMP) which she claimed could have purged the voters’ list and made the casting of ballots more orderly. Tancangco said the commissioners who junked the PMP and favored instead the 1998 Computerized Voter’s List (CVL) for use in this year’s polls were to be blamed for the chaos.

But Benipayo insisted that it was not yet possible to use the PMP because most of the regions were not yet ready for it.

Paradoxically, Tancangco herself voted for the reversion to the CVL.

Voting in South also peaceful – AFP

The military described the elections in Mindanao as "generally peaceful" even as 10 towns in three provinces were listed as "hotspots."

Col. Danilo Servando, spokesman for the Southern Command based in Zamboanga City, said their monitoring posts reported only four violent incidents related to the polls, including alleged harassment by the extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels in Lamitan town in the island province of Basilan where a militiaman was killed and two other persons were wounded.

Servando said the bandits fired rifle grenades, recoilless rockets and mortars at a chapel and an elementary school in Barangay Bulingan.

A mortar shell also exploded beside the town hall of Matanog in Maguindanao, sending civilians scampering for safety. A failure of elections was later declared.

"But generally, we are happy that the military has initially succeeded in our mission to make the election peaceful in the southern part of the country," Servando said.

A Comelec official in Matanog reported, however, that even the tight security provided by two Army battalions and Marines failed to encourage voters to come out.

Clarita Callar, Comelec director in Region 12, said while it is only the Comelec central office that could declare failure of elections, "all we can say is that unofficially, there was no election in Matanog."

The police said trouble erupted in the town after followers of a mayoral candidate harassed members of the local board of election inspectors.

Investigators said followers of mayoral candidate Kahir Macapeges, led by his son Guiamal, stormed the town hall at about 7:30 a.m., manhandled the election inspectors and destroyed the Comelec materials stored in a room of the municipal hall.

Macapeges‘ henchmen allegedly resented strict security measures imposed by the election officials.

The probers said the mortar shelling scared away the voters.

In Davao City, the government reported 85 percent turnout of voters, and 70 percent for the whole of Southern Mindanao.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government said there was 75 percent turnout in Iligan City, 70 percent in North Cotabato and 65 percent for both Lanao del Norte and Sultan Kudarat provinces.

A higher turnout was expected in the whole of Mindanao were it not for the declaration of failure of elections in some areas due to harassment activities by rebel forces.

Several areas were also placed under Comelec control due to reports about the presence of armed men and intense rivalry among political warlords. - With reports from Paolo Romero, Edith Regalado, Roel Pareño, John Unson