GENERAL SANTOS CITY — Police are closely monitoring several areas in Region 12 or Soccsksargen that might turn out as possible watchlist areas or “hotspots” in the coming May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Supt. Aldrin Gonzales, public information officer of the Police Regional Office (PRO)-12, on Tuesday said local police units have already identified potential election watchlist areas within their jurisdiction but these are still undergoing evaluation.
He said these were based on their initial intelligence and security monitoring in line with the scheduled elections.
PRO-12 gathered the region’s provincial and city police directors on Monday to assess their security plans for “Secure and Fair Elections” or SAFE and address the election watchlist areas.
“There are areas that might become hotspots during the time of the election. But as of now, we cannot confirm if these will indeed turn out as such,” he said in a radio interview.
Citing their current monitoring, Gonzales said they have not yet monitored any case of heated rivalries among aspirants and there were recorded problems so far in connection with the coming polls.
PRO-12 has operational jurisdiction over the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato.
In the 2016 elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared 10 municipalities in the region as watchlist areas due to the presence of armed groups and history of intense political rivalries.
In line with the start of the filing of certificates of candidacy of Barangay and SK aspirants and the start of the election period last Saturday, April 14, Gonzales said they increased their presence in strategic areas to ensure the proper implementation of election regulations.
He said these include the observance of the firearms or gun ban until the end of the election period on May 21.
On orders from Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Region 12 police director, he said local police units have intensified their security operations for the polls.
The move is aimed to prevent the emergence of election-related incidents, among them intense political rivalries, vote-buying and other activities that could trigger violence, he said.
“PRO-12 will have maximum deployment of personnel all over the region on May 14,” he said.
Last month, Comelec-Region 12 already activated the Regional Joint Security Coordinating Council and started pre-election conferences with different law enforcement agencies as well as the review and assessment of the previous Barangay and SK polls in the area.
The council is chaired by the Comelec regional director and with the PRO-12 director and the Army’s 1002nd Brigade commander serving as vice chairs. (PNA)
