Poll violence in Mindanao lower than previous elections
AN official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said poll-related violence in Mindanao is still relatively lower compared to previous elections.
In a press conference in Camp Crame, Quezon City, PNP Directorate for Operations Director, Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said 100 percent of the polling precincts in the region have functioned.
De Leon said they are validating reports of poll-related violence.
“Meron kasi nagrereport, they are blowing (this) out of proportion kaya vina-validate bago namin kino-confirm,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said a total of 26,299 out of the 33,286 registered persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) cast their votes in supervised jail facilities for the May 9 polls.
In a statement, BJMP chief Director Allan Iral said as of 2 p.m. Monday, there were no poll-related incidents in the onsite polling areas of the bureau’s jail facilities and offsite precinct places.
He noted that 24,979 BJMP PDLs voted in the onsite polling places of its jail facilities while 1,320 inmates cast their votes in the offsite polling precincts.
He said the number of voters might increase while the ballots from the special various polling places are transported to the precincts.
Despite being included in the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) list of qualified voters, some PDLs decided not to vote due to personal reasons while the others were transferred to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) jails or were released from imprisonment. Philippine News Agency
