Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division during a parade in Camp Evangelista. The Commission on Elections may deputize soldiers and police personnel for poll duties. MindaNews file photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 27 October) – A combined force of at least 10,000 policemen and soldiers have been deployed starting last Thursday to help ensure peace and order in 2,002 barangays in Northern Mindanao for the October 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
Philippine National Police Region 10 spokesperson Major Joanne Navarro said all the police stations went on full-alert mode as more than 3 million voters in the two highly urbanized cities, the seven constituent cities, and 84 municipalities go to the polling places on Monday.
Region 10 is composed of the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, and Camiguin and the two highly urbanized centers of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
“The police stations are augmented by our regional mobile forces and the PNP maritime units as well as the Philippine Army,“ Navarro said.
The PNP said they are closely monitoring the elections in 176 barangays in the region 10 tagged as “areas of concern” in their latest monitoring of possible election violence that may break out on or before Monday.
“We are especially concerned with one barangay in the town of Nunungan, Lanao del Norte, which has a long history of election violence,” Navarro said.
She said they are closely watching more than 80 candidates who are at risk of becoming victims of election violence.
She said 13 candidates are on the PNP’s high-risk category list.
Seven of them are in Lanao del Norte, three in Misamis Occidental, two in Bukidnon, and one in Misamis Oriental.
Navarro said an election monitoring center that also acts as a media center has been set up at the PNP regional headquarters in Camp Alagar, Cagayan de Oro to coordinate police operations on Election Day.
Major Francisco Garello, spokesperson of the 4th Infantry Division said they have deployed 4,000 soldiers to help the Philippine National Police secure the elections on Monday.
Garello said starting last Wednesday, Army soldiers have conducted mobile checkpoints along the major highways of Region 10 and Caraga Region.
4ID commander Major General Jose Maria Cuerpo II assured the public that the soldiers and policemen are capable of protecting all candidates and voters.
“I have ordered the soldiers to stay neutral and stay away from the influence of politics,” Cuerpo said. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
