Earlier today, several residents in the municipality blocked the delivery of election materials and entry of its electoral board members to polling precincts, Commission on Elections spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco told reporters in his 9 a.m. briefing.
These residents reportedly opposed the assignment of electoral board members to the precinct, but were peacefully dispersed shortly before noon, with the Philippine Marine Corps personnel escorting members of the electoral board to the precincts.
“These [electoral board members] are constituted by Comelec and certified by the Department of Science and Technology so wala po dahilan para sila pigilan,” Laudiangco stressed.
“Election offense ang pagpigil sa poll workers na magawa ang trabaho nila,” the lawyer said, adding that there is a legal way for voters to challenge the constitutionality of the board.
The delay in Saudi Ampatuan, Maguindanao has also been resolved as Comelec directed election officials in the area to let regular voters in, following the influx of senior citizen voters past the early voting hours.
Lawyer Maceda Abo, an election officer in Datu Sinsuat, and her husband Jojo were killed early April. This prompted the Comelec to declare the province under their control through Comelec Resolution No. 11126.
Due to the lengthy delay, election watchdog Kontra Daya is calling on Comelec to extend voting hours, to avoid the risk of disenfranchising more than 80,000 voters. The commission is considering extending the voting hours in the municipality, depending on the voter turnout in the area by noon.
As of 12 noon, only 947 out of 3,465 clustered precincts have reportedly opened in BARMM, or 27% of the total clustered precincts in the region. However, Laudiangco says this is not cause for alarm, as he attributes this number to the poor cellular connectivity in BARMM provinces, which could contribute to difficulty in reporting the updated numbers of opened clustered precincts in the area.