ELECTION DISRUPTORS. Puerto Princesa City police investigators are probing an incident wherein six unidentified men tore up three booklets of unused ballots during Monday's (Oct. 30, 2023) Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections. Maj. Pearl Manyll Marzo, the head of Police Station 1, said a suspect was arrested in connection to the incident. (Photo by Izza Reynoso)
PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan – The election process came to an abrupt stop at a polling center here on Monday morning after six men barged in, locked themselves inside, and tore up hundreds of unused ballots in a clustered precinct.
Regent Magbanua, chairman of the Election Board (EB), said the incident happened at around 10:52 a.m. in precincts 0121B and 0122A at the Puerto Princesa Pilot Elementary School.
The unidentified men seized a ballot box and ripped apart three booklets of unused ballots, he said.
"They locked the door, took the ballot box, and tore all the ballots," Magbanua said.
The two affected precincts in Barangay Princesa have approximately 342 registered voters for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE), but only 133 managed to vote before the ballots were destroyed.
Magbanua said he confronted the men who disrupted the voting and demanded that they return the ballot box that they had seized.
They complied but returned the ballot box locked, and they ran away with the keys, he added.
Following the incident, a person was arrested for allegedly taking part in the tearing of ballots, but police declined to disclose the suspect's identity.
Lawyer Percival Mendoza, the Comelec election supervisor in Palawan, said the arrested person will be immediately charged.
"We are still looking into the whole incident. We can't provide details yet," said Maj. Pearl Manyll Marzo, head of Police Station 1.
Magbanua said the men were apparently flying voters because they were not recognized as residents of Barangay Princesa, but witnesses said they voted before initiating the commotion.
"They say they don't know them and that they are flying voters. But they are registered because they are on the voter's list," he said.
The current chairman, Leo Pinto, is going up against Connie Reynoso, for the leadership in Barangay Princesa, but it is not yet clear whose supporters were involved in the disruption.
As of posting, the Puerto Princesa City police are investigating the case. (PNA)
