Cotabato City polls 'generally peaceful'

COTABATO CITY--Monday's elections here for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan levels have been generally peaceful, police said.

However, Senior Supt. Rolly Octavio, city police director, said there were incidents of disenfranchisement, quarrel among rival candidates’ supporters, and a sole “bomb joke” at a voting precinct. He added that these cases were considered minor and immediately addressed upon by military and police personnel.

“There were reported misunderstandings among supporters in Barangays Tamontaka, Kalanganan 2, and Mother Barangay Bagua but all were pacified quickly by the Army’s 5th Special Forces Battalion and city police personnel in the areas concerned,” Octavio said in a radio interview.

He said a “bomb joke” at the Sero Elementary School briefly caused tension in the area but was promptly acted upon by authorities.

Octavio said some 120 police officers also served electoral board in seven hotly-contested villages here during the 7 a.m. to 3 pm. polling exercise.

The city has 37 villages with some 105,000 voters. “In short, the election here was peaceful in general with no election-related violence reported,” he said.

Mayor Frances Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi, for her part, lauded Cotabatenos for their support on the government's campaign for honest and orderly election. (PNA)