News release
June 7, 2010
One of the witnesses of alleged irregularities during the May 10 elections in Basilan province claimed that an attempt on his life was made purportedly due to his role as a poll watcher for one of the mayoralty bets in Tabuanlasa town, according to a report reaching Kontra Daya.
In a sworn affidavit, 37-year old Hadji Abdulmaula Mannan said that on May 25 at about 2 PM, two unidentified men aboard a motorcycle were tailing him while he was driving his motorbike along R.T. Lim Boulevard in Zamboanga City. He claimed that one of the men pulled out a .45 caliber pistol and pointed it toward his direction. Mannan said that he escaped by speeding up and beating the traffic signal.
Mannan said that he has no known enemies but added that he had an argument with a certain Hadji Hakim Harun during the May 10 elections. Harun is the barangay captain (village chief) of Kaumpurnah, Tabuanlasa in Basilan. Mannan recalled that he complained the illegal presence of Harun at the voting center during the elections. In an earlier affidavit, Mannan claimed he saw Harun distributing ballots to voters inside the precinct at Barangay Kaumpurnah.
Harun allegedly threatened Mannan in Tausug, “Aunda waktu mu” (Your time will come).
Kontra Daya earlier disclosed that based on information it has gathered from affidavits of 16 people (including Mannan) who were members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI), poll watchers, and voters in Tabuanlasa, Basilan, various forms of poll irregularities took place in different polling areas in the said municipality last May 10.
These include alleged incidents of armed men taking away ballots from BEI members and pre-shading them. Armed men also allegedly prevented voters from entering the polling center in some precincts.
Kontra Daya condemned the reported murder attempt on one of the witnesses of poll irregularities in Tabuanlasa and called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as well as the Philippine National Police (PNP) to immediately probe the incident and ensure the security of Mannan and his family. #
