Lanao del Sur town ‘fake voters’ removed from list

Army soldiers provide security in Pualas, Lanao del Sur on Monday, 21 April 2025, as Comelec officials start removing “fake voters” for the May 12, 2025 elections. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO

PUALAS, Lanao del Sur (MindaNews / 22 April) – Amid the heavy security provided by the police and army troops, Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials here have started removing the names of 1,750 alleged fake individuals from the voters’ list for the May 12, 2025 elections.

Arang Banto, Pualas election officer, said the local Comelec office is implementing the order issued by the Third Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) in Ganassi town, Lanao del Sur last February 27 to delist the “fake voters” from the town’s list of voters.

“We are removing the names one by one and manually,” Banto told reporters from the heavily-guarded Pualas municipal hall on Monday.

Pualas is one of 18 towns of Lanao del Sur’s 39 municipalities that the Comelec categorized as “areas of grave concern” in the coming May 12  midterm national and local elections.

Last December, mayoralty aspirant Al Ihsan Marohom Ibrahim filed a petition before the MCTC in Ganassi town, seeking the delisting of 3,000 alleged fake voters in Pualas, mostly supporters of his rival, Pualas Mayor Amanoden Ducol.

Banto said it will take days to complete the process of removing the “fake voters” from the voters’ list.

Army Colonel Noel Ian Ignes, commander of Task Force Marawi, said that 18 towns in Lanao del Sur have been classified as ““areas of grave concern” due to their history of shootings, grenade attacks and intense rivalry of political supporters during elections.

“Marawi City is also categorized as an area of grave concern due to a reported electoral violence on election day,” Ignes said.

He said that nine towns in the province are categorized as “orange or areas of concern” while eight others are tagged as “yellow or areas of least concern.”

He said that only four towns in Lanao del Sur have no history of violence during elections. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)