Minors stopped from voting in Lanao polls

ABOY who insisted he was 22 years old tried to vote in the special elections held in Lanao del Sur on Saturday, but it turned out he was only 16 when pressed by the police.

Policemen stood as Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) after the teachers refused to serve for fear of violence.

Senior Supt. Antonio Gardiola, deputy chief for administration of the national police in the Autono- mous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said that the teenager went to the polling precinct in Binadayan con-fident thet he could vote because he had a Comelec voter’s ID. The boy's true age was discov - ered when his companion admitted that he was only 16 years old.

Gardiola said that aside from the discovery of minors as voters, the special polls in Lanao del Sur was generally peaceful.

Other areas which held special polls with around 15,000 votes were precincts 74-A, 75-A, 76-A and 77-A in Maguindanaon Elementary School in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao; Barangay Sarangani; Sta. Cruz, Marinduque; Antique; Barangay Roxas, Lope de Vega, Northern Samar; Barangay Nagpapacao, Matuguinao, Western Samar; Binidayan, Lanao del Sur; Tamparan, Lanao del Sur; Pata, Sulu; and Panglima Estino, 0175A, 0176A, 0177A and 0177B in Barangay Palayog, Hinigaran in Negros Occidental; precinct 3 of Malalag Central Elementary School in Maitum, Sarangani; Barangay Roxas, Lope de Vega in Northern Samar.