Manila, May 7 -- A voting center in Bangued, Abra was damaged by fire less than a week before the May 12 midterm elections, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia said Wednesday.

At the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay forum in Manila, Garcia said 70 percent of the polling place located inside the Dandangla Elementary School was damaged by the fire, which occurred early Wednesday morning.

"The cause of the fire is still being investigated, whether it was intentional because the elections are coming soon," he said.

The poll chief said a makeshift polling center would be set up within the school.

"We will not move the polling place... Even if the entire school burned down, we will build a makeshift in that place," Garci...