SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao (MindaNews/14 May) – ARMM Governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan stepped out of the Shariff Aguak Central Elementary School at around 9 this morning only to return through the main gate as former Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong, a relative who is seeking reelection as representative of the second district of Maguindanao, arrived with his wife to cast their votes.
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews/14 May) — Gunmen, the presence of flying voters and threats of ballot snatching forced poll officials to declare a failure of election in 11 towns of Lanao del Sur.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/14 May) — Failure of elections was declared in 19 towns in Mindanao, mostly in Lanao del Sur, according to a report from the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo)-initiated Kalinaw Mindanao election monitoring here.
SURALLAH, South Cotabato (MindaNews/14 May) — After more than four decades of waiting, residents of barangay Ned in Lake Sebu will now experience how the votes they cast during elections are actually counted.
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/14 May) – Who has the right to get the copy of election returns for the ruling Lakas- Christian Muslim Democrats and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) here?
MONKAYO, Compostela Valley (MindaNews/14 May)—A village official here was reprimanded by election authorities for allegedly hanging around with his supporters in a polling center at the height of Monday’s voting as police declared the town’s conduct of the national and local polls as “generally peaceful.”
MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/14 May) — The election campaign officially ended midnight Saturday. But for many local candidates, the real crunch time had come. The relative silence that filled the city's streets after days of noise caused by campaign jingles that competed for voters' attention simply meant that the contest had shifted to another arena. Except for the trickles of disniformation spread by one group to confuse the other, the propaganda war had ended. It was time for the final push.
The final push was vote-buying which, as expected, took place on the eve of Election Day.
ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews) – If the increase in number of Lanao del Sur’s registered voters is statistically improbable, a convenor of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) here wants the Commission on Elections to explain why Iligan City’s number of registered voters has decreased from 163,265 in 2004 to 149,246 in 2007.
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/14 May) — The conduct of the elections in South Cotabato was generally peaceful but the Commission on Elections was plagued with complaints on alleged vote buying, harassment, cheating and the usual voters’ complaint that they could not find their names in their precincts.
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/14 May) — A shortage of indelible ink and other election materials and the late arrival of poll clerks delayed the opening of several polling precincts here this morning, triggering confusion among voters in some parts of the city and nearby towns of South Cotabato.
LUTAYAN, Sultan Kudarat (MindaNews/14 May) – Where have all the watchers gone?
The Board of Election Inspectors opened the precincts for voting at 7 a.m. but no volunteer of election watchdog National Movement for Free Elections was around to monitor the voting in this bailiwick of the Mangudadatus.
Philippine Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) – Archdiocese of Cotabato, Rosary Heights Parish Church, Ramon Rabago Street, Cotabato City
ARMM ELection Monitoring Report, May 14, 2007
(As of 1:00 p.m.)
8:45 am
Two bombs exploded in Brgy. Dalican, Datu Odin Sinsuat at about 7:10 a.m. outside a residential house and outside the premises of the Dalican Pilot Elementary School. No one was reported injured. PNP-ARMM Chief Superintendent Gen. Joel Goltiao, in an interview over DXMS, said the bombs were intended to harass, “nananakot lang”. The bomb explosions however did not affect the conduct of elections.
MARAWI CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — Non-government organizations here expressed alarm today over the significant increase in the number of registered voters in Lanao del Sur who will troop to the polls on Monday.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/13 May) – The Armed Forces of the Philippines will work with the Philippine National Police and the security forces of National Power Corp. and TRANSCO to ensure continuous supply of electricity during the conduct of the May 14 elections.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — Delays in the shipment of election paraphernalia, alleged inaccessibility of Comelec officials, and a questionable alteration of members of boards of election inspectors have tainted the run-up to the polls tomorrow.
KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — Eduardo Dastas and his family live in a house here walled by roofing sheets they borrowed from somebody. They squat on the land along with at least five other households.
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/13 May) – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has placed at least 21 villages in Sultan Kudarat and in Sarangani province under close security watch to preempt possible disruptions in the conduct of elections in these areas.
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Region-12 has deployed additional personnel in various towns to ensure a peaceful conduct of the mid-term elections on May 14.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 May) – First, the bad news: the National Achievement Test results for schoolyear 2005-2006 showed a “declining education performance of the students in the country” with Grade 6 students averaging only an overall achievement rate of 54.5% and senior high school students with only 44.3%, down by four and two percentage points from the previous year, the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB) reported.
KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/13 May) – An election watchdog in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has called on all voters in the region to “come out on May 14 and exercise their rights to suffrage wisely.”
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Bantay Boto (Ballot Watcher) emerged in a Philippine Daily Inquirer report last May 9. Identified as a “new watchdog coalition” composed of retired generals and seven organizations of active military and police personnel, it revealed Oplan Mercury Rising – a plan to cheat in the May 14 election nationwide.
DAVAO CITY — Eleksyon na usab, dinhi nato masukod ang kahanas sa Commission on Elections (COMELEC). Kahanas sa pagpahapsay sa dagan sa eleksyon. Og makita kini sa dagan sa mga musonod:
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 May) – The absence of a standard Olympic-size swimming pool has hampered the development of swimming as a sport in the region, Davao Region Private School Athletic Association (Davao Region-PRISAA) officials said.
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/13 May) — The 3rd Davao City Kiddie Triathlon unfolds on June 3 inside the posh Ladislawa Garden Village here.
