MANILA, Philippines - A municipal election officer in Lanao del Sur has gone into hiding due to threats on his life.

Reports gathered by ABS-CBN Iligan said that Nasrullah Macabangon has sent a letter to the regional office of the Commission on Elections, asking permission to inhibit as chairman of the municipal board of canvassers in Saguiaran town.

Macabangon told regional election supervisor Remlane Tambuang that he has been receiving death threats.

The municipal election officer also informed Tambuang in the letter that members of the board of election inspectors assigned in polling precincts in the town have been disobeying orders from the municipal election officers.

Tambuang, meanwhile, said the electronic transmission of results by the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines would continue while they wait for the appointment of a new election officer for Saguiaran.

Lanao del Sur, which has been identified by police as an election hotspot due to the presence of private armies and rebels, was one of the provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao that have not completed the canvassing of votes. -- Report from Ronnie Enderes, ABS-CBN Iligan