With Lanao del Sur communities plagued by poverty and short in social services, election season is considered ?paskuhan? (Christmas season). Politicians? money flows like rain, mainly to buy the votes of the residents. As if vote buying were not enough, the elections there, like elsewhere in the country, were chaotic. 
Related story: Elections, Lanao-style
Pandemonium and scuffles break out in several precincts as special elections are held in Lanao del Sur towns. With soldiers deployed in schools and halls leading to precincts littered with garbage and reeking of manure, and many ballots uncounted, one would ask what?s so ?special? about the special elections held here on May 26.
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MANILA -- Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged the Commission on Elections to immediately relieve or suspend regional election supervisor Rey Sumalipao of the Autonomous…
As in the 2004 presidential elections, the Arroyo government has cynically and deliberately exploited the impoverished and anarchic situation in Mindanao to achieve its narrow partisan objectives.
Thanks to a partnership between the American people and the provincial government of North Cotabato, thousands of residents now have easier, safer, and faster access to markets to support their families? livelihood and ability to reach health care, education, and government centers.