SUMMARY
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LANAO DEL NORTE, Philippines – Hours before the polling places opened on Monday, May 9, Mary Jane Abolacion and other teachers of Lala town were already awake and waiting to receive the ballots and election paraphernalia.
Abolacion, 50, and the teachers assigned to the Daru Bucana Elementary School on Darumawang Bucana Island were restless and edgy as they stood in line in front of the municipal hall in Lala town.
They wanted to get the ballots and election paraphernalia first before the morning sun breaks on the horizon.
It was still dawn but Abolacion and the other teachers wanted to get to the bancas and sail immediately to Darumawang Bucana Island where the school is located.
“If we are late, it will be low tide and the bancas cannot land on the island. We have to wave ashore,” Abolacion said. “If the tide is high, the waves would be higher and it would be scary.”
Abolacion said the banca ride to the elementary school in Darumawang Bucana Island takes about 30 minutes.
She said the school has 871 registered voters, mostly fishermen, and their families.
Abolacion said they had to go there early on the island and prepare everything before the voting started at 6 am.
Darumawang Bucana Island is located on a mangrove forest on the east side of Lala town, facing Panguil Bay. It has a population of 1,259, according to a 2020 census.
Since it is an island, everything has to be brought in from goods, fishing gear and even learning modules for its elementary school.
Abolacion said during high tide, the Daru Bucana Elementary School is submerged in knee-deep seawater. – Rappler.com
Froilan Gallardo is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship
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