Yesterday’s midterm polls were generally successful despite counting machine glitches, vote-buying and scattered incidents of violence, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said.
One of the victims of defective vote-counting machines (VCMs) was former vice president Jejomar Binay, whose ballot was rejected multiple times.
He was ultimately provided a new one despite a general rule that only one ballot would be given to a voter.
Several candidates had to wait for replacement VCMs, including Makati Mayor Mar-Len Abigail “Abby” Binay and her husband Second District Rep.
Luis Campos in Makati, and Sen Mary Grace Poe in San Juan.
“Right now the estimate is about 400 to 600 machines out of 85,000 have experienced issues.
It could be bigger or it could be smaller, but that’s the estimate,” Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a briefing.
He admitted, however, that the count was much larger than the 188 machine failures reported during the 2016 elections.
Jimenez stressed that the Comelec did not predict perfect elections, pointing out that with so many machines in use, it was inevitable that some would malfunction.
The Comelec spokesman also said some precincts in Isabela, Zambales, Naga City, Samar and Sultan Kudarat failed to open on time.
“The general impression was that elections opened in all clustered precincts nationwide,” Jimenez said.
“These elections might be a little problematic because of all the problems we’re encountering, but we are resolving these issues and that’s I think the main point.”
The Comelec, which initially said the VCM used by Binay had been damaged by a cameraman, later said the former vice president had been given a defective ballot.
“He was allowed to vote. He filled out a new ballot along with another voter,” said Election and Information Division chief Frances Arabe.
Other officials said the machine had rejected Binay’s ballot because it was stained after having been dropped on the floor.
Binay, who tried to vote around 7 am, was finally able to cast his ballot before lunch. There were also reports of VCM glitches in other areas, prompting long queues.
Abby, however, said the incident was “not alarming.”
Her sister, re-electionist Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, called on the Comelec to investigate.
“By this time, we should have been experts when it comes to automation. The problem seems to worsen. The delay is unacceptable,” she told reporters.
Poe, who queued at the Sta. Lucia Elementary School in San Juan City, decided to go home after the precinct’s VCM broke down. Election officials tried to reset the machine several times but failed, prompting them to seek a replacement.
The re-electionist senator managed to cast her vote before lunch.
For the Philippine National Police (PNP), vote-buying was the biggest challenge for its personnel deployed nationwide.
Before precincts opened, the PNP’s National Election Monitoring and Action Center (Nemac) reported 79 incidents with 240 violators, 230 of whom had been arrested.
“We can see that vote-buying is really massive,” PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said in the vernacular.
“Some reports are not confirmed and not actually true,” Albayalde said.
The PNP Nemac also reported 340 liquor ban violations and 337 arrests.
The ban on buying and consuming alcoholic beverages began May 12 and lasted until midnight of May 13.
With regard to election violence, the PNP said 20 persons were killed and 24 injured in 43 incidents recorded since January 13. Albayalde said the number was 60% lower than the cases recorded during the 2016 presidential elections.
A total of 169,505 police and military security personnel were deployed for various election duties.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, said several incidents of violence were recorded in parts of Mindanao ahead of the May 13 elections.
At 10.15 pm on Sunday, supporters from rival camps at Tubod in Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur engaged in a firefight, resulting in the death of a supporter of mayoral bet Domingo Mirrar.
Mirrar was said to have been wounded during the incident.
He was arrested along with six others.
Two explosions also rocked Cotabato City and Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao late Sunday and early Monday, respectively.
No casualties were recorded.
Albayalde claimed the incidents were not election-related. In the Datu Odin Sinsuat blast, he said the perpetrator might have been seeking attention.
The AFP’s Western Mindanao Command said it had recorded around 26 election-related incidents in the area since the beginning of May until May 13.
In Lanao del Norte, a police corporal detailed with the Kapatagan Municipal Police Station was shot to death by men on motorbikes in Barangay Panoloon, Sapad town past 3pm on Saturday.
In Misamis Occidental, a town councillor was shot dead shortly after casting his vote early yesterday morning.
The victim was identified as Reid Isidro Moreno of Clarin, who was shot by a hooded man while walking home.