Probe launched on ballot box found floating in Maguindanao swamp

MAGUINDANAO, Philippines — Authorities are now investigating on who dumped a plastic box containing May 13, 2019 election returns in a swamp that a villager found Sunday.

The white box with a seal of the Commission on Elections was found by an ethnic Maguindanaon named Mohadz Mindao floating in a swamp in a secluded area in Salibo town in Maguindanao.

The box is now in the custody of the office of lawyer Ernie Palanan, Maguindanao’s election director.

Provincial Comelec officials and investigators from the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are now trying to determine who could have disposed the box off.

Palanan said the box should have been kept by the Salibo municipal treasurer after the proclamation of winning candidates for municipal elective posts.

Palanan said he will reveal to the public their findings on the controversy once investigation is over.