Commission on Elections. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Residents of Marawi City turned out in historic numbers to approve via their ballots the creation of three more barangays in their city, giving the Commission on Elections (Comelec) a feather for its cap after successfully holding its first electoral activity this year.
During the eight-hour plebiscite, all of the 387 voters from Barangay Dulay Proper voted yes to create Barangay Sultan Corobong, and the 597 voters from Barangay Kilala also unanimously voted yes to create Barangay Sultan Panoroganan.
Of the 1,137 voters from Barangay Patani, only two voted yes to create Barangay Angoyao.
According to the Comelec, the voter turnout was at 93.73 percent, with 2,123 out of the 2,265 registered voters able to cast their yes votes to create the three new barangays.
Orderly, peaceful
“The Comelec extends its gratitude to all its partner agencies, which made the conduct of these Plebiscites orderly, peaceful, and secure, namely the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, with the full support of the Marawi City local government,” it said in a statement on Saturday night.
All eight clustered precincts in three polling centers in Barangays Dulay, Kilala and Patan “promptly opened and functioned” at 7 a.m., and the voting closed at 3 p.m. as scheduled.
READ: Marawi City residents OK creation of 3 new barangays
“Most notably, the historic high voter turnout and the resounding yes votes clearly show that democracy is not merely alive but vibrant and thriving in the Islamic City of Marawi,” it added.
The Comelec earlier explained that the Marawi siege in 2017 resulted in an influx of internally displaced persons, contributing to a significant population increase in certain barangays, which prompted the creation of new villages.
During the March 18, 2023 plebiscite, voters of Marawi ratified the creation of Barangays Boganga II (out of Boganga) and Datu Dalidigan (out of Sagonsongan), which marked the first exclusively local electoral exercise in the city post-siege.