Minors registered as voters in Maguindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Local officials here claimed to have uncovered an anomaly in the March 10-31 registration of new voters in Maguindanao in preparation for the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Cotabato City administrator Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said the anomaly involved the registration of minors and was brought to their attention by officials of Barangay (village) Poblacion 1 and Poblacion 7 in Cotabato here.

She said village officials found that at least 30 minors from their areas had been recruited by a certain Tani Salik and hauled off to a Maguindanao town to register as voters there.

The parents sought the help of village officials when their children, aged 15 to 17 years old, failed to return home, she said.

Sayadi said the children later returned home and told their parents they were made to register as voters of a Maguindanao town and were given money in exchange for what they did.

“They were told to just register using other names and in return they were given an undetermined amount of money,” Sayadi said.

She said Salik was eventually arrested and was now being held at the city police jail.

Estrellita Orbase, acting Maguindanao election supervisor, said they would investigate the claims.

“We will check on that.We have yet to finalize the list of voters, if we see in the captured photos of the registrants that they are minors, they will be delisted,” she said in an interview.

Sayadi said the parents of the children were determined to file charges against the “recruiter.”

“[If] it happened in one or two villages in the city, it may have happened in other villages,” Sayadi said, adding that all barangay officials in the city had been alerted to the irregularity.

Meanwhile, the Comelec said preparations were continuing for the August elections as no law for its postponement has been passed yet.

Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Adiong said the postponement of the elections depends on the passage of a bill resetting the balloting to 2013.

“The directive is for us not to be distracted by the political debate on the issue of election or no election this year. We will make sure that the administration’s avowed policy of transparency, accountability and good governance is being carried out,” said Naguib Sinarimbo, ARMM executive secretary.