MANILA, May 14: Polling stations across the Philippines closed on Monday after mid-term elections to fill thousands of national and local posts were marred by deadly violence, officials said.
Six people were killed and at least six others wounded as gunmen ambushed people on their way to vote, set fire to election precincts or stole ballot papers, police said.
In many parts of the country people complained their names had been removed from electoral rolls.
Foreign observers reported blatant vote buying in Manila and campaigning in polling stations, which is against the law.
Election Commission chief Benjamin Abalos said most areas reported a turnout of between 70 and 80 per cent and that violence was confined to “just a few areas” of the country.
National police deputy director Avelino Razon said “generally, the situation was pretty good. Overall, it was generally peaceful except for some incidents.” In several towns on the southern island of Mindanao, voting was not able to proceed because election officials failed to appear out of fear of private armies or because election material did not arrive at the polling stations.
Counting the votes normally takes weeks as ballots are handled manually.
At stake are 12 seats in the 24-member Philippine Senate, 275 seats in the House of Representatives and thousands of local positions from provincial governor to town councillor.
In a statement, President Gloria Arroyo called on all sides to accept the results of the elections, saying they should now unite for the sake of the country.
“Campaigns are marked by fierce competition but we should be gracious, win or lose. For the good of the country, the chapters on bickering and competition should be closed once the people's verdict is out,” she said.
It is widely believed Arroyo's supporters will retain control of the House of Representatives and that the opposition will retain control of the Senate.—AFP
