By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan | Philippine News Agency
The Philippine National Police (PNP) will raise a full alert status starting Saturday to ensure a peaceful and orderly midterm elections on May 12, according to PNP Chief PGEN. Rommel Francisco Marbil.
Under a full alert status, police personnel are not allowed to go on leave to ensure sufficient deployment in communities.
Marbil said the PNP is primarily focused on securing the midterm elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
“Lahat kami, kasama kami [na] magbabantay; kaya nga sabi ko nga eh, ’yong mga lahat ng mga pulis during the election as much as possible, dapat nando’n na kayo sa early voting. Lahat ng trabaho natin by election nando’n, lahat ng pulis magagamit ’yon ang kagustuhan namin. We will make sure this is the safest election,” Marbil on the sidelines of PNP’s launch of its Joint Anti-Fake News Action Committee (JAFNAC) held at Camp Crame on Friday.
In a separate statement, PLTGEN. Bernard Banac, Commander of Area Police Command-Western Mindanao (APC-WM) said 2,831 out of the 3,734 police officers assigned as Special Electoral Board members in the BARMM have been deployed.
These officers, who are from 14 other police regional offices and the PNP Maritime Group, will be deployed in different localities in five provinces and three cities of the BARMM.
Banac said they are in close coordination with Armed Forces of the Philippines and Philippine Coast Guard to guarantee an honest, orderly, and peaceful elections in the region.
Banac also serves as concurrent commander of the Special Task Force (STF)-BARMM that oversees all security and public safety operations for the BARMM election in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Basilan, and Tawi-Tawi; the cities of Cotabato, Marawi, and Lamitan; and the 63 barangays of Cotabato province that are administratively part of the BARMM Special Geographical Area.
He also thanked local government leaders and candidates for their cooperation and support to the peace initiatives of APC-WM and STF-BARMM.Â
