GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The Police Regional Office (PRO)-12 will deploy its entire 6,738 officers and personnel to secure the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Monday, May 14.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Region 12 police chief, said Friday the deployment will mainly cover election centers and precincts, public convergence areas, highways and other strategic places within the region’s four provinces and five cities.
Morales said a total of 3,052 personnel are assigned for various election duties and 3,686 for anti-criminality functions.
“We have finalized all our security measures and all our units and personnel are now ready for Monday’s elections,” the official said.
The Regional Joint Security Coordinating Council convened at the PRO-12 headquarters here on Thursday to discuss the final arrangements for the conduct of the polls.
It was joined by officials of the Army’s 1002nd Brigade, Department of Education-Region 12, Commission on Elections-Region 12 and provincial election supervisors of South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
Morales said the discussion focused on the final police and Army deployment plan and the disposition of quick reaction teams.
He said they scrutinized the plans and developed other strategies “to provide more comprehensive and appropriate solutions to any problems that might happen during the Barangay and SK elections.”
“We covered all the important details and everything we need were laid down and discussed,: he said.
PRO-12 earlier identified a total of 255 villages as areas of concern or possible hotspots in connection with Monday’s elections.
It based its deployment plan on the level of security-related incidents that might occur in these areas in the run-up and during the polls.
For its part, Comelec identified the potential hotspots under the orange, yellow and red categories.
Areas under the red category are considered in critical situation while those under orange have confirmed “presence of armed groups and organized movements outside the law.”
Villages under the yellow category were identified based on their “history of political unrest.”
“The success of the coming elections is also anchored on how prepared we are in terms of security so we’re doing everything to ensure that it would smooth, orderly and peaceful,” Morales said. (PNA)
