MARAWI CITY – All is set for the conduct of special elections on Thursday in Lanao del Sur, Basilan and Sarangani where the May 10 polls failed due to varied reasons, even as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has applied stringent measures in Lanao del Sur due to perceived intense rivalries among local candidates.

Amid refusal of some teachers to sit as the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), the Comelec has tapped the services of its lawyers and police trainees to serve in the special elections in the seven towns of Lanao del Sur where armed men figured in shooting incidents leading to the failure of the May 10 elections.

Remlane Tambuang, elections director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said lawyers from the Comelec’s Special Actions Office (SAO) earlier arrived to replace relieved election officers in the seven towns and trained police troops to serve as BEIs for the special polls in Lanao del Sur.

“The SAO lawyers have come in advance and conducted training on the operations of the PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines. It’s all set for the special elections,” Election Officer III Maryann Mangudadatu, speaking for Director Tambuang, told reporters in Cotabato City.

More than 800 policemen led by dozens of officers from Regions 10, 11, 12 and ARMM have already been sent to the seven towns to serve as alternate BEIs and security contingents, according to Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag, ARMM police director.

On strict instruction of PNP Chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, the deputized police contingents will also enforce a total gun ban to ensure that unauthorized firearms would not be used to disrupt the conduct of the special elections, lawyer and Chief Insp. Ann Alvarado, ARMM information officer, told reporters Wednesday.

Comelec en banc Resolution No. 8965 prescribes for the use of SAO lawyers and police trainees to replace relieved election officers (EOs) and serve as BEIs in the seven towns of Lanao del Sur.

The deputized SAO lawyers were named as Temie Lambino for Lamba-Bayabao town, Jubil Surmieda for Masiu, Genevieve Guevarra for Bayang, Leah Alarkon for Lumbaca-Unayan, Lionel Castillo for Marogong, Mona Ann Aldana for Sultan Dumalondong, and Stalin Baguio for Tubaran.

The poll body has deputized police trainees from Regions 10, 11, and 12 to be on stand-by in case there would be a “shortage of teachers” to serve as members of the Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEIs), Tambuang said.

“These trainees underwent training on the operation of the PCOS and procedures for voting and counting,” Tambuang said.