Cops give free rides to Aeta voters in Bataan

Bataan map. INQUIRER FILES

MORONG, Bataan — Hundreds of members of an Aeta community from the remote Sitio (sub-village) Kinawan were fetched by policemen to help them cast their vote at Binaritan Elementary School, which is located several kilometers from their homes.

“This was done to prevent candidates from taking advantage of this opportunity by providing free rides to our local IPs (indigenous peoples), which could be tantamount to vote-buying,” said Colonel Palmer Tria, Bataan police director.

After voting, the Aeta IPs were brought back to their community.

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Tria said checkpoints at strategic points on the Roman Highway from Hermosa all the way to Mariveles town were installed to monitor drug trafficking and gunrunning “because criminal elements had this habit of taking advantage of this event to do their trades.” INQ