MANILA, Philippines — The majority of Mindanao residents voted for the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL), an unofficial tally of votes showed on Tuesday.
Data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) showed that 306,695 persons have voted to replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region during the first day of the BOL plebiscite.
Out of the seven provinces, six expressed support to the BOL. These provinces were Sulu, Lanao del Sur, Tawi-Tawi, Cotabato City, Basilan, and Maguindanao.
It was only in Isabela City (a separate voting area from Basilan province) where the majority of voters expressed dissent to the BOL — 21,810 voted against the BOL and only 18,794 in favor of it.
The PNP said the highest voter turnout came from the province of Sulu with 86,720 ‘yes’ votes for the ratification of the BOL. But the province also recorded the highest dissenters — a total of 72,776 voters.
The province of Lanao del Sur recorded 75,396 voters in favor of the BOL; only 54 expressed dissent.
In Tawi-Tawi, 59,007 voted yes for the BOL while 4,583 were against it.
Cotabato City, which suffered some issues during the first day of the plebiscite, registered 32,384 ‘yes’ votes compared to 22,783 ‘no’ votes.
The PNP also recorded a huge gap in the way residents in Basilan voted, but still the ‘yes’ vote won with 31,196 votes compared to the 10 ‘no’ votes.
Meanwhile, 3,196 voters from the Maguindanao province voted in favor of the ratification while 31 disagreed. /ee
READ: Plebiscite’s initial tally validates Muslim support for BOL — Palace