COTABATO CITY — Voting was temporarily disrupted at the Nabundas Elementary School in Barangay Nabundas, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao del Sur, on Monday noon amid an alleged encounter between police and an armed group after authorities arrested 10 men near the polling center.
Ruffa Mokalid, a reporter of Church-run Radio DXMS, reported from Barangay Nabundas that gunshots were heard for about two hours starting at 11:45 a.m.
She reported that a voter was hit by a stray bullet along the Shariff Aguak-Mamasapano highway.
READ: PNP logs 7 cases of violence amid BARMM polls
Gino Ballesteros, Shariff Saydona Mustapha Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (MDRRMO), said sporadic gunshots could still be heard as of 3 p.m.
“Voting has resumed and is continuing while sporadic gunshots also continue; we have enough security forces here,” Ballesteros said.
Mokalid observed that the gunfire and trading of bullets between state forces and the alleged armed men appeared to be normal for some residents, who did not even drop to the ground or seek shelter.
Earlier, police stopped 10 men on board a “payong-payong” (umbrella) tricycle at its police checkpoint in front of the Nabundas municipal hall grounds.
But they tried to escape, forcing the police to chase them.
They were invited for questioning on their possession of several empty shells for undetermined firearms.
Another man was arrested for possession of a .45-caliber pistol while on board a minivan flagged at the checkpoint.
Another vehicle was also stopped at the checkpoint, and police reportedly recovered a .45-caliber handgun from its occupants. /coa
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