By Leonardo V. Micua
DAGUPAN CITY, (PNA)– The turnout of voters in 31 barangays here was definitely higher than in the past barangay elections based on the assessment made by the City Elections Office.
The Comelec observed that most of the voters went to the polls as early as 7:00 a.m. and by 12:00 noon, some 70 percent was believed to have already cast their votes.
It took only two minutes to vote in this election with not much queues seen unlike in the previous elections.
This is because only eight names need to be written in the ballots, one for punong barangay and the other seven for kagawad.
Counting is now being undertaken in the precinct level starting at past 3:00 p.m. and the winners are set to be proclaimed soon.
But tension remains high in Barangay Pantal between the followers of the two women protagonists, incumbent Barangay Captain Lilia Yasar and her challenger Julianne Perez.
The followers of these candidates nearly clashed along the road in Pantal Centro at 8:00 a.m. Monday but this was prevented with the arrival of the Quick Response Team of the police and the military.
Barangay Bonuan Binloc is still under watch by the police during the counting to prevent a clash between the forces of incumbent Barangay Captain Pedro Gonzales and her challenger Ronald Torio.
But the counting was disrupted in that village when three persons tried to enter a polling precinct and introduced themselves as members of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) sans any identification cards.
Members of the PPCRV who were already inside the polling precinct have certified the three were not known to them.