TUGUEGARAO CITY, May 15 (PIA) — Members of the “Team Bantay” international observers from five countries have declared a peaceful and orderly conduct of election in Cagayan.

Observers from Australia, Japan, Germany, Spain and Thailand observed that the election here was done smoothly, the voters are already knowledgeable on the operations of PCOS machines, and the voters’ turnout was very high as the voting public were very participative.

Adele Webb from Australia and Mariko Ishii of Japan said that the election in the province is very festive and it arouses high intense of interest and participation among individuals.

However, the team observed some minor problems such as malfunctioning of some machines and the delay of transportation of election paraphernalia in some remote areas.

“We observed that there were some problems on logistics and technicalities but we believe that the officials can improve the lapses in the next elections,” said Pimsiri Petchnamrob of Thailand.

Jerik Cruz, their team leader from the Philippines, said that they have noted some issues prior to the conduct of election such as the alleged vote buying of some candidates, electric power interruption the night before the actual election, and some other election-related criminalities.

“If we compare it with the manual election in the previous elections here, we can really see the difference that automated results could hardly be manipulated for possible frauds, and the counting and proclamations are also quick,” Ishii said.

Cagayan was among the areas where the international observers watched the election proceedings. Other areas that were observed include Pampanga, Camarines Sur, Cebu, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Masbate.