A total of 1,753 registered voters in Pualas, Lanao del Sur, have been excluded from participating in the May 12 election after the Regional Trial Court (RTC) ruled that they are not valid residents of the municipality.
On Monday, April 21, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Pualas manually removed the names of the disqualified voters from the official list, in compliance with the RTC’s order.
Comelec Election Officer II Arang Banto said the court’s ruling followed a thorough process of verification and certification.
“Actually, we implement the court order issued by the RTC to cross out manually the exclusion of names of voters from the list of voters excluded by the court,” said Banto. “There are voters excluded by the RTC, almost 1,753. There is an issued court order by the RTC,” she added.
Banto emphasized that the RTC’s decision is final and executory. Those excluded from the list will not be allowed to vote in the upcoming election.
“Yung mga hindi na-convince ang korte na residente (of certain barangays in Pualas), ‘yon lang ang tinanggal nila,” Banto said.
More than 2,000 voters were originally challenged in the petition, with the court ultimately excluding 1,753 — over 50% of the total questioned.
Pualas has 13,360 registered voters, 24 clustered precincts, and 84 established precincts, according to Comelec.
Meanwhile, some of the disqualified individuals expressed concern, claiming they were not informed of the court proceedings.
“They claim na wala silang alam sa cases nila kasi hindi daw nag-notice ang RTC sa kanila,” Banto said. She clarified that Comelec merely implemented the court’s directive.
“To the public, the petition for the exclusion of voters by the petitioners, the result of the decision of the municipal trial court and regional trial court, ay nandito na sa opisina ng Comelec,” Banto added.
The petition was filed before the Municipal Trial Court by mayoral candidate Al Ihsan Marohom Ibrahim, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Amanodem Gocul.
