ABRA CAPITAL POLLS TO PURSUE AMID POLLING PLACE BLAZE

May 10, 2025 Headlines

BANGUED, Abra

Amid Wednesday dawn blaze that gutted classrooms at an elementary school to be used as a polling place in barangay Dangdangla,
Bangued, Abra, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) declared polls on Monday will go on. Abra Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Reyman Solbita said all 49 Automated Counting Machines (ACM) for the 49 precincts in Bangued, the provincial capital, underwent the necessary Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) already. Their technicians, he said, responded only to one precinct where its ACM experienced minor problem but was solved immediately. FTS was also done at 5 PM Wednesday May 7, 2025 even at the polling place in Dangdangla Elementary School even if three classrooms were gutted by a fire.

FTS of its ACM was done in the office of COMELEC Bangued witnessed by representatives and watchers of candidates in the capital town. The ACMs for the Dangdangla Elementary School will be brought to clustered precincts in that same polling area, with policemen and soldiers escorting election officials. According to Solbita, two buildings not affected by Wednesday dawn’s fire can be used for Monday’s polls. The poll officer added that they are awaiting for the clearance of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Bangued and a go signal of the Department of Education (DepEd) after electricity are installed in buildings. Solbita bared thar Barangay Dangdangla has 900 voters and police and soldiers have beefed up security operations in the village and the whole of Bangued to ensure safety during Monday’s polls.

Artemio A. Dumlao/ABN