(PNA photo by Joey Razon)
MANILA – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said monitoring is continuous in areas with a history of poll-related violence, in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP), to ensure a peaceful Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30.
DILG Assistant Director for National Barangay Operations Office, Izza Marie Laurio, said the PNP is keeping an eye on at least 356 “areas of grave concern,” majority of which are located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindandao.
“Ang aming policy is that we will deploy po kung kailangan ng mas maraming pulis (Our policy is that we will deploy more cops if needed),” the official said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.
“We will deploy ang ating mga uniformed personnel sa mga lugar na maraming record ng karahasan, sa ating mga hot spot (We will deploy our uniformed personnel in areas where there have been records of violence, in hot spots)."
Laurio said the DILG has yet to receive reports of election-related violence in Mindanao.
“Sa aming tanggapan sa National Barangay Operations Office wala pa naman pong report na natatanggap ang aming opisina sa (In our office at the National Barangay Operations we have not received any reports as of yet) in Mindanao,” she said in a separate interview.
“Kaya kapag tinatanong kami kumusta ang eleksyon ngayon, although it’s still too early to compare on past elections, we can say sa ngayon mapayapa naman at sumusunod naman (This is why whenever we are asked how the election is now, although it is still early to compare, we can say it is generally peaceful),” she said.
More than 1.41 million filed certificates of candidacy for barangay captain, seats in the sangguniang barangay (kagawad), SK chair and SK council.
Laurio said the DILG is ramping up its campaign to encourage more people to exercise their rights to vote and prevent both vote buying and selling,
On full alert
PNP information chief and spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the police would go on full alert status four days before the BSKE and until All Souls’ Day (Nov 2).
“So tuloy tuloy itong ating pagbabantay at meron naman tayong (So, we will continue our vigilance and we have) enough PNP personnel to cover both major events,” Fajardo said in a radio interview on Sunday.
Fajardo said extending the alert status until Christmas will depend on the recommendations of field commanders.
Earlier, the PNP said 4,429 police officers are ready to serve as board of election inspectors (BEIs), deputized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
As BEIs, the cops will not carry guns because they are inside the polling centers but police assistance desks will be near the polling centers.
Among the country’s 42,001 barangays, aside from the 356 in red category (areas of grave concern), 1,196 are under the yellow category (with history of election-related incidents in the last polls and previously declared under the control of the Comelec); 1,325 are under the orange category (serious armed threat); and the rest are classified under the green category (generally peaceful and orderly and have no cause for concern). (With a report from Christopher Lloyd T. Caliwan/PNA)
