The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) yesterday denied allegations that election fraud took place in Maguindanao following the discovery of a ballot box floating in a swamp late last week.
The ballot box was seen floating on Thursday in the village of Sambulawan in Datu Salibo town by a fisherman named Moadz Mindao, reported ABS-CBN News.
“I was surprised to see the black part, then its white section. I thought it was a crocodile and then I saw the words ‘Commission on Elections, Republic of the Philippines’ written on it,” Mindao said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The discovery of the ballot box prompted defeated mayoralty candidate Sam Esmael to post about it on Facebook, where he alleged that the box contained filled out ballots used in the midterm elections that occurred last month.
“This contains the public’s votes which the COMELEC submerged [into the water] to cheat and make mayoralty candidate Solaiman Sandigan, his vice mayor, and councilors win [in the elections],” Esmael alleged.
Esmael identified a certain Mary Ann Marohombsar as the COMELEC officer assigned to Datu Salibo during the May 13 elections and asked for the COMELEC and President Rodrigo Duterte’s help in investigating the alleged election fraud.
Datu Salibo municipal treasurer Alo Mamoribid said the floating ballot box was stolen from the municipal office by unidentified individuals, reported Rappler. Despite this, the COMELEC rejected Esmael’s allegation that cheating occurred in the town during the election.
“Contrary to allegations made by Esmael and in the absence of any proof of fraud, Datu Salibo election officer Mary Ann Marohombsar maintains the conduct of the May 13 polls in her jurisdiction was fraud-free,” the Philippine Star quoted a statement from the COMELEC.
“Actions are now being taken to set the facts straight and hold to account those who are responsible,” the COMELEC added.
Despite denying that cheating took place in the town, the commission will conduct an investigation behind the incident.
Esmael lost the election after receiving just 273 votes out of some 5,000 votes cast on May 13. Sandigan, on the other hand, won the mayoralty seat with 2,279 votes.
