Cops, Troops Secure Ballot Boxes For Mindanao Polls

A Sulu provincial guard watches over poll workers as they prepare ballot boxes for the August 11, 2008 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which is composed of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao provinces, including Marawi City. Some 1.5 million people are expected to vote for a new set of regional officials. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 10, 2008) – Philippine security forces readied Sunday to secure the elections in the Muslim autonomous region, where more than 1.5 million people are expected to choose their new leaders.

Monday’s regional elections will be the first automated polls for Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao and Maguindanao provinces, including Marawi City. Soldiers and policemen were seen guarding ballot boxes in Sulu province. They also escorted poll officials in transporting hundreds of ballot boxes and election materials in different areas in the province.

“We expect the polls to be peaceful. We have deployed police and military forces in different areas to secure the elections,” Sulu police chief Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim told the Mindanao Examiner.

Military armored vehicles and tanks were spotted escorting trucks transporting ballot boxes in Jolo and Patikul towns.

The Commission on Elections said it has deputized policemen and soldiers to secure the elections. A memorandum of agreement between the Department of National Defense and the Commission on Elections stipulates the limits of military's involvement in the elections.

Military camps cannot be used as polling places and soldiers cannot preside over polling counts. The MOA also bans soldiers from providing security for candidates.

But the Commission on Elections also order ordered that some units of the military to secure polling precincts and for troops to man, patrol, and provide military visibility in areas identified under serious armed threat.

The military has set up checkpoints in areas where insurgents are known to operate.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan also ordered police and military to strictly enforce the gun ban.

Tan said he expects the elections to be peaceful and clean. “We have peaceful elections in the past and we expect the same on Monday and it should be quick because everything is automated,” Tan told reporters.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) said that Smartmatic-Sahi Technology Inc., one of the technology providers for the automated elections, has set up a National Support Center (NSC) in Manila to serve as technical support hub for the field support technicians deployed in various voting centers in Maguindanao and canvassing centers in the rest of the provinces.

James Jimenez, COMELEC spokesman, said the NSC would act as an information repository and a help desk support for the field support technicians deployed in the Muslim autonomous region.

“The NSC is similar to a call center that handles inbound and outbound calls but it also serves as a knowledge base center where operators upload all acquired information into the Election Day Management Platform which can help in developing quick response actions,” Jimenez said.

The NSC is vital to the overall operations because it makes its easier for the support technicians to address technical problems in the field.

Maguindanao is the only province which will be using the Direct Recording Electronic technology and other provinces will be using the Optical Mark Reader system. (Mindanao Examiner)