BOAT RIDE. School teachers ride outrigger boats to bring the ballots to Darumawang Bucana Island in Lala, Lanao del Norte last Monday. Photo by Froilan Gallardo
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LALA, Lanao del Norte — Hours before the polling places opened last Monday, Mary Jane Abolacion and other teachers of this town were already awake and waiting to receive the ballots and election paraphernalia.

Abolacion, 50, and the teachers assigned to Daru Bucana Elementary school on Darumawang Bucana Island are restless and edgy as they stood in line in front of the municipal hall in Lala town.

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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 outrigger boats and sail immediately to Darumawang Bucana Island where their school is located.

BALLOT INSPECTION. School teacher Mary Jane Abolacion picks up the ballots from the Municipal Hall in Lala, Lanao del Norte last Monday. Photo by Froilan Gallardo

“If we are late, there will be low tide and the bancas can not 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 (a) bit scary,” she added.

Abolacion said the outrigger boat ride to elementary school Darumawang Bucana Island would take about 30 minutes.

She said the school has 871 registered voters mostly fishermen and their families.

Abolacion said they have to arrive early on the island so they can prepare when the voting starts at 6 am.

Darumawang Bucana Island is located on a mangrove forest on the east side of Lala municipality facing Panguil Bay. It has a population of 1,259 residents 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 is knee-deep in seawater.

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