COTABATO CITY โ Medical teams promptly addressed a total of 1,495 medical concerns during the May 12 elections in Lanao del Sur, the largest province in the Bangsamoro region.
Lanao del Sur has 39 towns and more than 90 barangays in its capital, Marawi City.
Dr. Allen Minalang, chief of the Integrated Provincial Health Office of Lanao del Sur, and Dr. Kadil Sinolinding Jr., an ophthalmologist and health minister of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said in separate reports released Tuesday, May 13, that many of the patients who experienced discomfort at polling sites were suffering from diabetes, hypertension and other chronic illnesses.
Brig. Gen. Romeo Juan Macapaz, director of the Police Regional Office, told reporters Tuesday that police units in Lanao del Sur actively supported emergency response operations by the provincial health office and the regional health ministry.
โThose teams have set a good precedent that must be emulated in other provinces during elections,โ Macapaz said.
Medical teams from the provincial health office also treated several motorcycle-riding voters involved in road accidents while traveling to schools designated as polling centers.
Four voters died after complaining of chest pains and symptoms of high blood pressure. Two others were fatally shot in an ambush Monday morning while on their way to vote at a public school in Barangay Rinabor, in the town of Bayang.
Minalang said their medical teams did their best but could not save the lives of the six individuals.
Sinolinding said he and his subordinates are working to organize permanent special emergency response teams that can be deployed during major events anywhere in the Bangsamoro region.
About The Author
