Solon warns of failure of elections in Mindanao due to bombings

A solon warned of a failure of elections if the series of bombings affecting power supply in Mindanao goes unabated.

In an ambush interview Monday, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the credibility of the 2016 automated elections would be questioned if the supply of power in vote-rich Mindanao would be scarce.

He warned of darkened precincts with no power, rendering inutile the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to count and transmit the votes for this year’s presidential elections.

Rodriguez said Mindanao can give as much as 11 million votes for the elections.

“We are facing the May 9, 2016 elections. And what will happen if we don’t have a supply? Our classrooms and precincts would be dark. How can we have elections that will be credible? We might have a failure of elections in Mindanao, comprising of 22 million people, (of which there are) 11 million voters, almost 20 percent of our voting population,” he said.

Rodriguez urged the police and military to capture the perpetrators of the bombings that have toppled 18 steel towers of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) since last year, plunging some parts of Mindanao into darkness.

“That is the function of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines. It’s been a year now, and still there are no findings who are the mastermind or perpetrators on any of the 18 towers bombed,” Rodriguez said.

READ: AFP vows to secure NGCP towers in Mindanao

For the year 2015, the NGCP said at least 16 towers were bombed and caused massive blackout in Mindanao.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), the breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has been blamed for the spate of bombings. It has denied the allegations.

The bombings have resulted in power outages in Cotabato city, North Cotabato, and Maguindanao, among others.