Abalos urges Maguindanao village bets to shun violence, vote-buying

Interior and Local Government Sec. Benjamin Abalos Jr. | File photo / Albert Calvelo of Senate PRIB

COTABATO CITY – Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos urged candidates in the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in Maguindanao del Sur to reject violence and the practice of buying votes.

“Prove to all that Maguindanao del Sur can host peaceful and safe elections,” Abalos told the candidates during a peace covenant signing in Datu Anggal Midtimbang town on Saturday.

“No vote buying, no intimidation; voters should vote freely,” he added.

“No violence should be used. There should also be no vote-buying, please,” he told all the candidates.

“Can you do it?” he asked as the crowd quickly responded with a resounding yes.

The then undivided Maguindanao still holds the distinction of having the worst election-related violence in the country with the murder of 58 individuals — 32 of them journalists — on November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan, now part of Maguindanao del Sur.

Abalos also told the candidates to exercise humility in victory and offer peace and reconciliation to election rivals.

“To the winners, be humble, and offer your hand of peace and reconciliation to your election rivals who, I was told, are your relatives after all,” Abalos said before the peace covenant signing.

Of Maguindanao del Sur’s 24 towns, the villages in 16 towns have no contests, while the polls are expected to be tense in the remaining eight with more than two aspirants for village chairperson.

Abalos, accompanied by Maguindanao del Sur Gov. Bai Mariam Sangki Mangudadatu and Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, Bangsamoro police director, led the covenant signing aimed at ensuring a peaceful and safe election in the province.

Abalos first affixed his signature on the “wall of commitment” followed by Mangudadatu, Nobleza, and other police, military, and local officials.

“I am happy you have that commitment, and as proof of that commitment are your signatures,” Abalos said.

As part of the program, all the candidates in attendance have affixed their signatures to the “wall of commitment” in the venue.

“We are signing a covenant of no violence,” Abalos said.

Earlier, Nobleza briefed Abalos on the situation in the region.

Mangudadatu also reminded candidates that the elections come and go and that the candidates still live side by side in the barangay after the balloting.

“I asked all of you candidates to work for peaceful elections. After the election, you are still living in the same village and many are relatives after all,” she said, adding that some of the candidates are fathers, brothers, sisters, and relatives pitted against each other.

In a media interview, Abalos said his office and the PNP are now finalizing the list of villages with unopposed candidates in BARMM and Region 12 “so we can redeploy our peacekeepers and police personnel in areas listed as hot spots.”

As of October 14, a total of 249 areas in the Bangsamoro region belonged to the red category of the election hot spot list, according to the police.

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