Marawi b’gay, SK polls: Where to vote, residents ask

Two days before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in Marawi, many voters still don’t know where they will cast their votes, according to the Legal Network for Truthful Elections.

LENTE said its monitoring showed that voters, especially those who remain in evacuation centers, do not know their candidates.

“The main problem... is access to information on where they will vote... who are the candidates and their programs,” LENTE said.

LENTE members visited the Sarimanok Tent City Camps 1 and 2 recently to discuss the barangay and SK elections with evacuees.

“The only information they had was they would vote in (Barangay) Sagonsongan and they just heard it from the city hall,” the group said, referring to an alternative vot- ing center.

Some voters said they were also told that they would be provided transportation on election day.

LENTE said only a handful of candidates campaigned in evacuation centers, adding that few campaign posters were put up.

Residents of 27 barangays in the so-called “ground zero” in Marawi are among those who will participate in the elections tomorrow. A total of 15,096 registered voters will cast their vote in 51 clustered precincts in five alternative voting centers.

Comelec data shows there are 675,730 registered voters in the city, of which 227,686 can participate in the SK and 448,044 in the barangay elections.

The Comelec suspended the elections in Marawi on May 14 to pave the way for rehabilitation works following months of fighting between government troopers and Maute militants last year.