By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — A total of 16,000 police personnel will be deployed across Metro Manila to secure next week’s mid-term elections, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Tuesday.
“This (personnel deployment) is not just in polling centers or canvassing areas but also to maintain our anti-criminality efforts,” NCRPO Chief, Major Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
He added the PNP has put all its units in Metro Manila on full alert.
“Full alert means the highest level of readiness in all police offices and units and all personnel should be accounted for 100 percent,” Eleazar said.
“All leaves are cancelled, except for those that are emergency in nature. All of our policemen are present in their different offices or stations,” he added.
Eleazar ordered the five police district directors in the metropolis to monitor political developments in areas with a history of election-related violence.
The five districts covered by the NCRPO are the Manila Police District (MPD), Quezon City Police District (QCPD), Northern Police District (NPD), Southern Police District (SPD), and Eastern Police District (EPD).
The NCRPO, he said, will conduct more checkpoints and police presence will be increased in different areas of Metro Manila until the last day of the election gun ban on June 13.
“I have guided all NCRPO police officers to act in accordance with their mandate and conscience — to be above political affairs, to be fair, judicious and determined so we can uphold the integrity of the elections,” Eleazar said.
“Arrest those who violate the Election Code, charge them and pursue their cases in court — that is my order to all our police officers. As such, I am requesting all candidates and stakeholders in this coming election to exercise prudence and fair play,” he added.
Eleazar said the NCRPO has the lead role in law enforcement operations aimed at dismantling criminal gangs, other criminal elements and Private Armed Groups; and arresting and filing cases against target personalities and organizations.
While there is no election hotspot in Metro Manila, Quezon City and Pasay have been classified as areas of concern for the May 13 elections, he said, citing the killing of a barangay chairwoman running for a congressional seat in Quezon City, and the wounding of a barangay chairperson in Pasay.
Meanwhile, Eleazar urged Metro Manilans to exercise their right of suffrage by participating in the May 13 elections.
“Our 2019 mid-term election is at hand. I urge all our residents in Metro Manila to go to their polling precincts and exercise their right to select the leaders of their communities, as well as the lawmakers of our country. I urge you all to vote early and wisely,” he said.
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