Now it’s ‘official’ -- Pierce Brosnan is ARMM ‘governor’
By Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 20:43:00 07/24/2008
MANILA, Philippines—It’s goodbye to Hollywood now for actor Pierce Brosnan, who beat Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Costner, Harrison Ford and Sharon Stone in the “gubernatorial race” in Mindanao’s autonomous region.
Brosnan won Thursday in the mock polls in Maguindanao, two days after a “sweeping victory” in five other provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Despite bomb threats and amid proposals to postpone the ARMM elections, Thursday’s mock polls “went without a hitch,” Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesman James Jimenez said.
"Our people in the field have reported to us that the mock balloting in Maguindanao went smoothly and that the voters showed no signs of difficulty in their voting," said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.
Some 564 voters took part in the mock polls which began at 10 a.m. and ended 45 minutes later, he said.
The mock poll was "speedy, accurate, and the transmission of the results went without a hitch," Jimenez said.
The mock election is a dry run for the August 11 ARMM automated polls -- the first fully-automated balloting to be held in the Philippines.
Some 245,415 registered voters in Maguindanao are expected to cast their votes in the ARMM elections, which will use touch-pad and touch screen technologies.
The mock election was originally set for July 22, but it was cancelled to give way for the visit of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the flooded areas in Maguindanao province, Jimenez said.
Only the mock elections in the provinces of Shariff Kabunsuan, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Basilan, and Lanao del Norte were held Tuesday where Brosnan also "won" as governor.
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