DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 27 Apr) – With only 12 days left before the May 9 elections, police authorities here said they are ready to secure the elections in Davao City.
Speaking during the joint AFP-PNP press conference at the Royal Mandaya Hotel Wednesday, Senior Insp. Milgrace Driz, Davao City Police Office (DCPO) spokesperson, assured that there will be maximum deployment of police personnel while plans have already been laid out as to the police assignment to different polling precincts.
“We are 95 percent ready. The remaining 5 percent is for our improvement,” she said.
Driz said that they will assist the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in ensuring that the vote counting machines (VCMs) are safe, from arrival to delivery to the different polling precincts in the city.
“We will secure the VCMs, when they arrive and stored at the Comelec warehouse in Sasa from Luzon, and assign security to the convoy going to the City Treasurer’s Office before distribution to different polling precincts,” she said.
Comelec-11 earlier said that the city will receive the most number of VCMs in the Davao Region with 1,280, followed by Davao del Norte (801), Compostela Valley (648), Davao Oriental (514), Davao del Sur (600), and Davao Occidental (265).
There will be a total of 12,324 board of election inspectors (BEI) all throughout the region.
Comelec records also showed that Davao City has a total of 873,670 voters, Davao del Norte with 525,343 voters, Compostela Valley with 408,539, Davao del Sur with 373,692, Davao Oriental with 319,971, and Davao Occidental with 158,551.
Driz refused to disclose how many personnel will be dispatched during election day but the city will receive additional force of about 300 from the Police Regional Office (PRO) 11.
Capt. Rhyan Batchar, chief of the Division Public Affairs Office of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, said that they are bent on pursuing the armed groups “who are taking advantage of the election season.”
Two perished and another two were hurt in separate encounters on Monday between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA) in Brgy. Astorga in Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.
Cpl. Roosevelt Tamse and civilian Dionie Cantulan were killed; injured were Cpl.
Richard Rañola and Pfc. Armand Mabait.
Driz added there will also be additional deployment of police personnel to 11 barangays in Marilog, Paquibato, and Baguio districts here which are classified as election watch list areas.
