ISABELA CITY, Basilan – For the first time in history, the election in Sulu province was peaceful except for two recorded mauling incidents, a military official said Tuesday. This came as most of the key elective posts, except in five of the 19 municipalities, were uncontested during the May 9 national and local elections. The five hotly-contested towns include Panguntaran, with six candidates for mayor and three for vice mayor; Lugus, five mayoral bets and three for vice mayor; Omar, four mayoral aspirants and six for vice mayor; Parang, three mayoral candidates and two for vice mayor; and Patikul, two

BANGUED, Abra – With the exception of minor poll-related hitches, elections in the Cordillera Administrative Region generally went smoothly, a police official said on Tuesday. In a statement, Police Regional Office in the Cordillera (PROCor) director Brig. Gen. Ronald Oliver Lee said no major election-related case was recorded in the region, “making it a peaceful and orderly election day.” “With the combined efforts of the PNP (Philippine National Police), other government forces, and the community, the conduct of the election in all precincts in the region went smoothly,” he added. PROCor information officer Capt. Marnie Abellanida, in a phone interview

MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has dismissed the motions for reconsideration on two sets of petitions seeking to disqualify presidential race frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. On Tuesday, the Comelec en banc released its ruling that stemmed from petitioners who wanted Marcos dropped from the elections because of his alleged failure to file an income tax returns from 1982 to 1985 while he was a public official in Ilocos Norte. The petition of Fr. Christian Buenafe, Fides Lim, Ma. Edeliza Hernandez, Delia Lagman Sevilla, Roland Vibal, and Josephine Lascano was junked by the Second Division due to lack

MANILA – A Catholic priest urged the people to respect the decision of the Filipinos in choosing the leaders of the country. Fr. Anton CT Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, said it is important to recognize the result of the election because it is one of the characteristics of an independent society. “Let’s respect the rule of the majority from a relatively peaceful, clean and credible election,” he said in a radio interview. “That’s (an) appreciation of the democratic ideals of the foundation of sovereign popular will and rule of law,” he added. The statement came after presidential frontrunner Ferdinand

MANILA – House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has been reelected unopposed as representative of the lone legislative district of Marinduque province for a third consecutive term. Velasco was proclaimed winner by the Marinduque Provincial Board of Canvassers on Tuesday after garnering 100,794 votes in the final tally. “I am deeply honored and humbled by my reelection to the House of Representatives. I am extremely grateful to the people of my beloved province of Marinduque for putting their trust and faith in me to represent them in Congress for another three years,” Velasco said in a statement. Velasco said he is

MALOLOS CITY, Bulacan – Reelectionist Governor Daniel Fernando is poised to win his second term as he takes a big lead over his rivals based on the partial and unofficial results on Tuesday. As per results released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) which represents 98.54 percent of the province’s election returns as of 11:47 a.m., Fernando garnered 974,069 votes, which is way ahead of his toughest opponent Vice Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado, who got 577,087 votes. They were followed by Pancho Valerio, who got 23,043 votes, Datu Adam Ocampo (10,824), and Kaka Ernesto Balite (10,279). Meanwhile, Fernando’s tandem, Board Member