CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, (PNA) — Election and police officials Monday declared the barangay polls in Central Luzon as generally peaceful and orderly amid reports of alleged vote-buying and other forms of cheating.
Lawyer Rafael Olaño, regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), said the conduct of barangay polls in the region ran smoothly except for some minor and usual problems encountered during the conduct of the electoral exercise.
”There are some reports and complaints that we have received such as the alleged vote buying, the distribution of campaign materials near the polling areas and the difficulty of some voters in looking for their names in the lists. These are some common and usual problems that we have been able to address those matter. Overall, we can say that the barangay elections in the region went well,” he said.
Asked on how was the turnout of voters in the Central Luzon, Olaño said he cannot give details yet as they are still awaiting the reports from the provincial election officers in the region.
Chief Supt. Raul Delfin Petrasanta, Central Luzon police regional director, also said that there were no reports of any untoward election-related incidents in the region throughout the day.
”Based on the reports from our police provincial directors here, there were no reported political violence in the region,” Petrasanta said.
The two officials , however, said that they will continuously and closely monitor the situation in the region until the declaration of winners.
Olaño said the winners are expected to be declared by 8 p.m. in villages with small population and by 12 midnight or early Tuesday morning in those villages with big population.