Two men were arrested today after they allegedly torched two vote counting machines (VCMs) in Jones, Isabela province on Monday.
The suspects were identified as Rodel Pascual, 34, and Jayson Leaño, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. Authorities said they were identified in witness accounts.
Pascual was arrested at Manayao Hill, Barangay (Village) Sta. Isabel at 10:30pm last night, while Leaño surrendered to authorities in the same village at 9:30am today.
Jones, Isabela election officer Darius Perdines told Sunstar that the VCMs were inside a dump truck and were en route to the municipal canvassing center in Jones town yesterday morning when two armed men blocked the truck and then burned the VCMs and other election paraphernalia before fleeing.
An estimated 200 unread ballots were in the torched VCMs, another Inquirer article states.
The suspects were brought to the Jones Municipal Police Station. ABS-CBN News reported that they denied the allegations against them. They have not been linked to an election candidate.
Investigations on the case are still ongoing.
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