GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 29 October) — Nearly 7,000 police personnel have been deployed in parts of Region 12 and the neighboring areas to secure the conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Monday.
Brig. Gen. Jimili Macaraeg, Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 director, said they assigned personnel to specifically secure the polling centers and precincts, and other strategic areas, and augmentation as members of the electoral board (EB).
“We have mobilized more than 6,800 police personnel for Region 12 alone starting Saturday and we have a standby reserve force that is ready to move out if needed,” he said in a virtual press conference Sunday afternoon.
Region 12. Map courtesy of Google
Region 12 comprises the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and North Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Kidapawan and Tacurong.
Macaraeg said they sent 202 personnel to Maguindanao del Sur province on Saturday to serve as security augmentation and alternate members of EBs.
Sixty-six personnel were also deployed to barangays under the Special Geographic Area of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in Pikit, North Cotabato as replacement for the teachers who backed out from serving as EB members, he said.
Macaraeg said they also tightened security in five barangays identified under the red category in the municipalities of President Qurino and Lambayong in Sultan Kudarat province.
Four barangays in President Quirino and one in Lambayong were included as election watchlist or red areas due to the presence of armed groups from nearby areas that could disrupt the conduct of the elections, he said.
“We assigned joint teams from the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), Special Action Force and the PRO-12 to secure these areas,” he said.
Macaraeg added that their operations will also continue in line with the enforcement of the firearms ban and monitoring against possible criminal activities, especially those related to the conduct of the elections.
Since the start of the firearms ban on Aug. 28, he said they already conducted a total of 219 operations that led to the arrest of 46 suspects and filing of 51 cases, and the recovery of 231 small firearms, 17 light weapons, 17 explosive and more than 800 ammunition.
“The entire region is generally peaceful so far and we’re hoping that it will continue during the election day and until we complete the counting of votes and proclamation of the winners,” he added. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
