BALANGA City, Bataan — The Bataan Police Provincial Office reported past noon of Monday that the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in this province remained generally peaceful and no untoward incident recorded.
“Police personnel were deployed to secure all polling centers while continuous police presence and mobile patrols were conducted in vital installations and places of convergence,” said Senior Supt. Marcelo Dayag, Bataan police director.
He said information dissemination on crime prevention was also intensified.
Senior Inspector Edsel Carbungco, police action officer of the Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center, said a total of 730 police officers were deployed to secure polling centers and vital locations in the province.
This number includes those from the police Special Action Force and the police Maritime Group and 10 from the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Two to three police officers were assigned in every polling center that the public can approach for assistance,” Carbungco said.
He noted voting went on as scheduled that started at 7 a.m. as most of the election paraphernalia were at the polling precincts before 6 a.m.
Abucay town police chief Senior Inspector Jennifer Cruz said a quick reaction team is on standby to respond to any incident.
Lawyer Gilbert Almario, provincial elections supervisor, said Bataan, which has 237 barangays, has 167 voting centers composed of 3,522 polling precincts.
Total number of registered voters in the province for the barangay election is 508,407 and 180,676 for the Sangguniang Kabataan poll, or a total of 689,083, added Almario.
Meanwhile, Bataan Bishop Ruperto Santos has advised earlier voters to think of the future of the community and not to be carried away by the “kumpare system.”
“Voters must choose leaders who will act according to God’s commandments and those who will respect the environment,” the prelate said.
Santos said the public must elect leaders who will stand against vices, such as drugs and gambling. (PNA)
