By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan/Philippine News Agency
MANILA — Close to 5,000 police officers expressed intent to participate in the absentee voting for the May 13 mid-term elections, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde said on Monday.
“A total of 4,981 PNP personnel stationed in different regions nationwide have signified intention to participate in the Local Absentee Voting, including 163 personnel who will cast their absentee votes in Camp Crame tomorrow, April 30,” Albayalde told reporters on Monday’s press briefing.
He said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 10443 allows Local Absentee Voting to certain voters for the May 13 elections starting Monday until Wednesday.
The resolution provides that members of the PNP are entitled to avail of absentee voting, provided, they are duly registered voters and temporarily assigned in places where they are not registered, in the course of undertaking their public functions and duties.
“We encourage all 190,000 PNP personnel to exercise their right and perform their duty to elect our country’s leaders,” Albayalde said.
He reminded the police personnel are prohibited from engaging in any form of partisan political activity, the only political exercise that we are allowed to perform is to cast our votes.
“We have been continuously rotating our personnel if we see things like providing unnecessary or unauthorized security to candidates, we relieve immediately that person, including the immediate superior whether he is the chief of police or the provincial director pending their investigation. It does not end with relieving them. They will be investigated and made to answer for their actions,” the PNP chief noted.
For his part, National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director, Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar urged PNP personnel assigned in Metro Manila to take advantage of the absentee voting in order to maximize the deployment of policemen and utilize all its resources in securing peace and order during the actual date of elections.
“I exhort all policemen to vote and vote wisely. Our country deserves good leaders and we will be able to attain this by exercising our right to suffrage wisely,” Eleazar said.
“It is the very reason that I would like to encourage all policemen, especially those who come from their hometowns in the provinces, that every vote counts and your votes are equally significant,” he added.
Eleazar earlier said 15,000 police personnel will be deployed in Metro Manila to “maintain our anti-criminality efforts”.
He ordered the five police district directors in the metropolis to monitor political developments in areas where election-related violence occurred in the past.
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