Basilan, Cotabato City placed under Comelec control due to election-related violence

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has placed Cotabato City and the town of Maluso in Basilan under “Comelec control” after reports of violence and cheating in both areas.

The poll body said election materials were compromised in Maluso after poll officials discovered pre-shaded ballots in 36 of 69 voting precincts.

Comelec Chairman George Garcia, who is here in the city, ordered the affected ballots halted and arranged for reprinting, delaying voting in those areas.

In Cotabato City, a series of violence, including explosions and shooting, left three dead and at least 20 others wounded before and during the Bangsamoro Parliamentary Elections.

On Monday, as voting started at 6:45 a.m. inside the Cotabato City Central Pilot Elementary School in Barangay Poblacion 6, a shooting incident occurred, sending people running for their lives.

The incident left four people injured, including a police officer. The police officer, a member of the Philippine National Police’s Regional Mobile Force Battalion 13, was hit on his foot.

Police said several men fired at individuals near the polling precinct.

Personnel of the police’s Quick Reaction Force immediately responded, cordoned off and secured the area, and rushed the wounded to the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center.

Col. Jibin Bongcayao, city police director, said the suspects' motive was to sow fear among voters.