COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 29 October) — Seven classrooms in Barira and Datu Odin Sinsuat in Maguindanao del Norte were intentionally burned in what the Police Regional Office in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) confirmed to be election-related violence brought about by intense political rivalry in Monday’s Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.
Elections, however, will push through, using other classrooms in these schools, said Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, chief of the PRO-BARMM said in a press conference Sunday morning.
Five classrooms in Ruminimbang Elementary School in Barira were set on fire at 1 a.m on October 28 while two classrooms in the Dalican Pilot Elementary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat, were burned three hours later, at 4 a.m.
Both areas are now classified as areas of grave concern, Nobleza said.
The BARMM police has deployed 8,809 police personnel in the region comprising Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, the three cities of Marawi, Lamitan and Cotabato, and the Special Geographic Area (SGA) in North Cotabato comprising 63 villages in six towns.
An augmentation force of 1,000 and another 5,000 troops from the Philippine Army and Marines will be deployed.
Nearly 2,000 policemen will serve as members of the electoral board after teachers refused to serve in this hotly-contested local polls.
Most of the areas classified as grave security concerns are located in Lanao Del Sur, Maguindanao Del Sur, Maguindanao Del Norte and the SGA. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
