BULUAN, Maguindanao (UPDATE) —The split of Maguindanao province was ratified by residents in a landslide vote during Saturday’s historic plebiscite, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Sunday.

Based on official plebiscite municipal canvass results collated by the poll body, ballots cast for “Yes” won 706,558, accounting for 99.27 percent of the total votes cast.

"No" took 5,209 votes or less than 1 percent (0.73 percent).

The proclamation was made past 2 p.m. after canvassers in Buluan waited for the arrival of two Certificates of Canvass (COCs) from Upi and South Upi towns.

Provincial officials were present during the proclamation.

Under Republic Act 11550 signed by then President Rodrigo Duterte in May last year, the division of the southern province into Maguindanao del Norte and Maguindanao del Sur will take effect after a plebiscite.

The law said the new provinces will be composed of the following towns:

Maguindanao del Norte

Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, North Upi, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, and Talitay

Maguindanao del Sur

Ampatuan, Buluan, Datu Abdulla Sangki, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Hoffer Ampatuan, Datu Montawal, Datu Paglas, Datu Piang, Datu Salibo, Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Datu Unsay, Gen. Salipada K. Pendatun, Guindulungan, Mamasapano, Mangudadatu, Pagalungan, Paglat, Pandag, Rajah Buayan, Sharif Aguak, Sharif Saydona Mustafa, Sultan sa Barongis, Talayan, and South Upi

Dati Odin Sinsuat will be the capital and seat of government of Maguindanao del Norte, while Buluan will be for Maguindanao del Sur.

The provincial canvassing began at 8:40 a.m., with 21 of the 36 certificates of canvass (COCs) arriving from Maguindanao municipalities.

• Maguindanao plebiscite successful so far, Comelec says

The first 18 COCs in secured ballot boxes were brought to Buluan on Saturday night, hours after the voting closed.

The COC from General SK Pendatun town, which is adjacent to Buluan, arrived first at 8:41 p.m., the provincial Comelec’s log showed.

COCs from other areas continued to arrive as the provincial board proceeded with reading out the results for the canvass.

• Maguindanao residents, officials hope for progress should province split

SECOND HIGHEST TURNOUT

Based on the Comelec’s tally of the municipal results, 711,767 or 86.93 percent of the total 818,790 registered voters in Maguindanao cast their ballots during the plebiscite.

Comelec spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco said this will make the Maguindanao plebiscite the second with the highest voter turnout for province-wide plebiscites.

• Comelec: Voter turnout in Maguindanao plebiscite could exceed 60% projection

The turnout for the creation of Compostela Valley from Davao Del Norte in March 1998 was 89.73 percent of 236,502 voters.

Last year’s plebiscite in Palawan which rejected its division into Del Norte, Oriental, and Del Sur follows with 60.73 percent voter turnout.

The Comelec said the Maguindanao referendum was the most-participated in terms of number of registered and actual voters.

“People are not afraid to cast their votes. They trust the process so much,” Garcia said in a message to reporters.

LOOK: The Maguindanao plebiscite provincial board of canvassers resumes its canvass of municipal returns at 8:40 AM with only 21 of the 36 COCs received.

Municipal-level results logged by Comelec show “YES” set to win the historic referendum splitting the province. pic.twitter.com/NoNewyynqJ

— Anjo Bagaoisan (@anjo_bagaoisan) September 18, 2022

The Comelec on Saturday projected the turnout in Maguindanao to reach or go beyond 70 percent.

This despite observations by monitoring groups earlier in the day that turnout was low in some areas.

• Namfrel: Maguindanao plebiscite had 'very low' morning turnout of voters

Poll watchdog Namfrel and other groups said the plebiscite mostly turned out smooth and without a violent incident.

However, a number of voters reported experiencing disenfranchisement.

• Anumang ulat ng iregularidad sa plebesito, iimbestigahan ng Comelec

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