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SAN JOSE, Dinagat Isands (MindaNews/11 May) — At least 84 combined troops from the police and military are now deployed in the entire province of Dinagat Islands with Loreto town under the control of the Commission on Election (Comelec).
Manuel Felicilda, acting provincial and municipal election officer, said the town was declared an “area of concern” after sightings of armed men a few weeks ago, particularly in the island-barangay of Hibosong.
But Major Apollo Abao, assistant provincial police chief, clarified that the area has been placed under Comelec control because of the 2007 election-related violence where a house of a barangay captain was peppered with bullets resulting to a death of a supporter.
Abao said 60 members of the Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are now scattered around the seven municipalities of the province plus an additional 34 troops of the Army’s 30th Infantry Battalion. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)
