ZAMBOANGA CITY--The Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) on Tuesday described the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) 2018 in its area of responsibility as “generally peaceful” despite the recorded five election-related incidents.
Chief Supt. Billy Beltran, PRO-9 director, said “there was no serious violent incident reported by the lower units as of 7 p.m. of May 14, 2018.”
Beltran said the five election-related incidents they have recorded “were classified as isolated cases.”
Beltran said the successful implementation of the BSKE 2018 security plan, coupled with significant operational accomplishments, contributed more in maintaining the peace and order during the conduct of the elections.
Beltran said police units closely supervised the provinces and cities, which were declared as areas under watch list to ensure tight security operation. PRO-9 and its military counterpart had deployed 5,195 personnel to secure the 1,883 polling centers in the Zamboanga Peninsula, he added.
The PRO-9 area of jurisdiction covers the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Zamboanga del Sur and the cities of Dapitan, Dipolog, Isabela, Pagadian, and Zamboanga.
Police said 53 people were arrested in connection with the election gun ban, while 60 firearms were confiscated, including one explosive and six bladed weapons. (Teofilo Garcia, Jr/PNA)
