By Manny Balbin/Philippine News Agency

CAMP GENERAL ALEJO S. SANTOS, Bulacan — A total of 1,805 police personnel will secure the May 13 mid-term elections in this province.
A send-off ceremony for the lawmen who will render election duties was held at the open court of the Bulacan Police Provincial Office here Tuesday.
Col. Chito G. Bersaluna, Bulacan police provincial director, said the police officers will be deployed in different polling centers to help ensure a peaceful and orderly conduct of polls in this province.
Likewise, he said the police officers will help secure the vote counting machines.
Bersaluna, in his message during the send-off, ordered his troops to fulfill their sworn duties and responsibilities with the best of their abilities.
“Make sure that no one will bend the will of the people to freely choose the candidates they like,” he said.
Also present during the ceremony were provincial election supervisor Mona Ann T. Aldana-Campos, election supervisors of the 21 municipalities and three cities of the province, members of the 48th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army led by Lt. Col. Felix Emeterio M. Valdez, Monsignor Pablo Legaspi, vicar general diocese of Malolos City and some personnel, and representatives of concerned government agencies, such as Commission on Elections (Comelec), Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Department of Health (DOH) and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMO).
“The Bulacan police is stern on the implementation of stepped-up pro-active measures and optimized deployment of personnel for election duties to preserve and protect the public interest, prevent harassment and preempt any possible poll-related violence during the elections,” he added.
The Bulacan police reported that so far, there has been no poll-related incident in the province since the start of the election period.
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