BOL vote a success

Except for some precincts which did not open on time after some teachers did not report to their assigned areas in Cotabato following a bombing incident, the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) plebiscite was peaceful, Commission on Election (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez reported yesterday.

The delay was due to some teachers who backed out at the last minute after a bombing incident which the police said was not related to the voting

The spokesman noted that everything fell in place during the exercise except in Cotabato which he tagged as a “sore spot.”

The poll official said the delay was due to some teachers who backed out at the last minute after a bombing incident which the police said was not related to the voting and after some also received threatening text messages.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Albayalde ordered a probe on the grenade attack at the residence of Cotabato City Judge Angelito Rasalan but he said initial findings point to a motive that has nothing to do with the plebiscite.

“We don’t know the exact nature of the messages. They said they don’t want to do it anymore. Since it’s a voluntary service, we can’t do anything about it,” Jimenez said.

Some 24 precincts in Cotabato opened late because of the incident. Jimenez said 77 members of the PNP had to fill in the spots and perform plebiscite committee functions.

The canvasing of votes for Cotabato and Isabela City will be conducted at Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Complex, said Jimenez.

Approving the BOL is among the final steps under a five-year old peace agreement between Manila and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) aimed at ending decades of strife that left some 120,000 people killed.

Comelec regional chief Rey Sumalipao said that the voting has been generally peaceful.

Voting in some areas in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao had delays because of rains and late delivery of election materials that stalled the plebiscite, said the region’s police director, Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares.

Roughly 2.8 million voters will be watched over by a contingent of 20,000 police and soldiers, amid fears rival insurgent groups could use violence to try to disrupt the poll.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar is optimistic on the results of the poll.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar. “We are very optimistic that if the Yes votes win, it will surely end the conflict in areas in Mindanao,” said Andanar on radio yesterday. “We are also expecting that President Rodrigo Duterte will talk with MNLF (Moro National Liberation Front) chairman Nur Misuari and others who opposed the BOL.”

He also noted that the PCOO had been hands on in assisting international and local media in covering the plebiscite, noting that the Office of the Global Media Affairs are in the poll areas to give assistance.

“We have requested a C130 plane from the Department of National Defense to help international media observers in their transportation,” he said.

The government and MILF are hoping that a new, stable Bangsamoro will attract investments to a region where brutal poverty and perennial bloodshed have fueled recruitment by radical groups.

The peace process began in the 1990s and did not include hardline Islamist factions, including those aligned with the Islamic State group, which are also active in the southern Philippines.

Albayalde said that these factions are the one who hinder the peace process in the country’s southern region.

“Their motive is to sow terror,” Albayalde said, referring to the rival groups. “They don’t really have any other cause.”

Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez, on the other hand, urged voters to “be brave enough to go to the precincts.”

Final results are expected to be released within four days of the voting, with an approval triggering the demobilization of a third of MILF’s fighters, which it says number about 30,000.

“I’m tired of the violence because my father is one of the victims,” said 22-year-old Jembrah Abas, adding her father was slain by unidentified attackers after advocating for peace.

The election “is on the 20th anniversary of his death. I’m so sick of the violence,” she said.