PNP, AFP see peaceful barangay, SK polls

The Philippine National Police will deploy some 110,000 police personnel to man Police Assistance Desks tasked to ensure the orderly and secure conduct of synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in over 40,000 barangays across the country on Monday. In a statement, PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said the PNP has established Joint Security Control Centers with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at the national, regional, provincial and city levels to ensure the effective coordination among field units of the two agencies. PNP personnel will likewise serve as members of Board of Election Tellers in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, which have been classified many times as election hotspots in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Police Director Benjamin Belarmino, the PNP’s deputy chief for operations, also said that about 85 percent of the PNP’s entire 130,000-strong organization will be put on election duty. “The remaining 15 percent will be assigned to monitoring and other administrative duties in the national, regional, provincial and municipal police headquarters," he said. Police and military security forces have also been deployed to some 3,000 barangays listed as election watch list areas (EWA), which have been targeted due to recent incidents of election-related violence, the presence armed groups, or a history of intense political rivalry. But based on field reports so far, Belarmino said is confident that Monday’s elections will be orderly and peaceful. “I am confident that the security plans we have laid out in coordination with the AFP and other concerned government agencies will be adequate to ensure honest, orderly and peaceful elections," he said.

President Benigno Aquino III had earlier directed the PNP to ensure the peaceful and fraud-free conduct of barangay and SK elections. Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the Aquino has asked the PNP to employ security measures during the elections, including the deployment of roving and foot patrols, to preclude violence. AFP sees peaceful polls The AFP, meanwhile, said it foresees that Monday’s grassroots elections will be peaceful, and reminded military officers to refrain from engaging in partisan political activities. AFP spokesperson Lt. Col Arnulfo Burgos said his men have not monitored any threat to the conduct of the elections this year. “We are projecting peaceful elections because based on our current monitoring, we have not monitored any threat or any untoward incident that will affect tomorrow’s conduct of the elections," Burgos said. To date, 34 election-related violent incidents have so far been recorded, according to Burgos, compared to 98 incidents recorded by the AFP during the last barangay elections. He also noted that military and police forces are now monitoring only about 2,301 election hotspots this year, compared to 4,511 in the 2007 barangay elections. AFP vice chief Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu had earlier warned military personnel against engaging in partisan politics and reminded them to focus on their mandate of ensuring peaceful elections. “General Mapagu said that we have to be non-partisan. We should not participate in partisan political activities. We will just remain true to our mandate," said Burgos. - DM/KBK, GMANews.TV