Police declare ‘peaceful’ polls in Manila

MANILA, Philippines—The Manila police on Monday declared that the barangay (village) elections in the city as generally peaceful despite a minor incident involving two brothers.

Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo, MPD spokesman, said that except for a fist fight between the siblings, no other untoward incident happened within the area of MPD’s jurisdiction as of posting time.

The fight, he said, was a result of a heated argument between the brothers. The incident caught the attention of voters and security officers, but said that the area wasn’t at a polling place.

He earlier said they deployed enough police officers to man assistance desks in every polling place in Manila.

He said they also conducted check points in different parts of the city since Sunday evening as bar examinations were also held.

“The number of voters in a particular polling place was among the basis of the number of police officers deployed in a specific area,” Margarejo said.

At the Dr. Alejandro Albert Elementary School, Evangelina Escalera, Master Teacher 2 and overall coordinator for elections of the school said the poll started as scheduled without a hitch.

In an interview with Maximina de Guzman, 72, of Barangay (village) 510, she said some voters encountered difficulties when they were asked to present valid IDs first before they could vote.

Several elders interviewed, meanwhile, said they had a hard time going up the stairs to get to their assigned precinct.

Juana Cecilio, 80, of Barangay 512, said she experienced chest pains for having to climb the stairs.

“Akala ko sa baba kasi, senior citizen ako. Pero umakyat na lang ako,” she said.

Cecilio was still able to get to her polling precinct but didn’t have enough strength to write in her ballot anymore. She cast her vote with the assistance of a relative.

Same goes for Julieta Alina, 78, of Barangay 504. She said her knees were kind of shaking as she tried to get up the stairs.

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