SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao — Police authorities in Maguindanao have started security preparations for the upcoming Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections scheduled in May.
Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, the Maguindanao police director, said on Monday that as far as they are concerned, the planned local polls will push through unless a law says otherwise.
Like the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the police will continue security preparations to ensure a safe and peaceful barangay and SK elections.
“According to what we know, the elections will be held as scheduled unless a law sets it for another date,” Tello told reporters here Monday.
Bills are pending in both Houses of Congress seeking for the postponement of the elections in October this year.
Tello said the security plan he is preparing is based on the previous village polls in 2013 but with special focus on the so-called “SPMS Box.”
“SPMS Box” refers to the adjoining towns of Shariff Aguak, Pagatin (Datu Saudi), Mamasapano and Datu Salibo, all in Maguindanao, where the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) operates and had been “making noise” lately.
The Army’s 6th Infantry Division had conducted at least four air and ground operations against the BIFF since January aimed at annihilating the Islamic State-linked Moro rebel group.
Tello said he foresees a peaceful election in Maguindanao if it pushes through on May 14, 2018 because of the existing martial law in Mindanao. But he stressed that the police will continue validating reports of local politicians aspiring for local posts, who maintain private armed groups.
Tello refused to say how many of Maguindanao’s 508 villages are considered “hot spots” or Category A, where intense political rivalry and armed men are present by saying that assessment and evaluation are still going on. (PNA)
