Dumagat tribal folk in Nueva Ecija travel for 4 hours to vote

Dumagat tribesmen in Gen. Tinio town, Nueva Ecija, cast their votes on Monday (Oct. 30) during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections | PHOTO: Armand Galang

GEN. TINIO, Nueva Ecija—Members of the Dumagat tribe arrived in groups at Rio. Hico Elementary School in Barangay Rio Chico in this town to cast their votes during the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Tribal chieftain Ben Belmonte said he traveled almost four hours from the mountainous Sitio (sub-village) Mapidya on a motorcycle just to reach his poll precinct.

Belmonte’s group had to stay somewhere in the village before returning home early the following day.

Belmonte said over 100 of them cast their votes.

Provincial election supervisor lawyer Rommel Rama said all precincts in the province’s 849 villages opened at exactly 7 a.m.

No untoward incidents were reported in the area, Rama said. INQ