PHILIPPINES: About 12,000 troops and police have been deployed in the southern Philippines ahead of today's elections.
The area was the centre of allegations of vote-rigging against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in May 2004.
Security was heavy in areas leading to voting centres in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), where 1.2 million voters are due to pick a new governor, a vice-governor and 24 members of a legislative assembly. "We will make sure that we will not only have a violence-free election, but an honest and credible process," deputy national police chief Ricardo de Leon said.
Philippine security forces said they had identified about 120 election "hot-spots" in 101 municipalities. These communities were classified as "areas of concern" due to a long history of violence, especially in elections since the late 1980s; intense rivalry among local politicians; and the presence of armed groups including Muslim separatist rebels, kidnappers and Islamic militants.
Mr De Leon said ballots would not be immediately counted in the more than 8,500 polling precincts, in order to prevent violence. - (Reuters)
