By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES
COTABATO City— Social Studies teacher Abunawas Solaiman clearly remembers the 2004 elections because, he said, it was the only time he felt safe serving as a member of the Board of Election Inspectors.
He was then assigned at precinct 21-A in Barangay Katbo, Matanog in Maguindanao, serving alongside a policeman and a marine officer to man the precinct, the year the government allowed members of the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army to serve in the BEIs.
“Walang pumapasok na mga nananakot sa mga guro or doon sa mga bumuboto (No one came inside the voting precinct to intimidate teachers and voters),” recalled Solaiman, president of the Teachers Alliance for Change (TEACH).