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Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Reserve force readied to ensure peaceful polls
By Avelyn Z. Agudon
A RESERVED force composed of 50 personnel from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office will be deployed in preparation for possible election-related incidents in the forthcoming synchronized local and national elections on May 10.
Supt. Mark Edison Belarma, police provincial director, said the reserved force will be dispatched in the event that election-related violence should transpire particularly in police stations that lack police personnel.
Belarma added that policemen in all cities and municipalities will be deployed in different polling places in urban areas, while troopers of the Regional Mobile Group and Philippine Army will be assigned in the countryside to ensure peaceful elections.
He added police and military personnel will also assist the Board of Election Inspectors during elections.
Areas of concern
Belarma also said they are not lowering their guards at the identified seven areas of concern even if political candidates have signed a peace covenant for a clean, honest and orderly elections.
The areas of concern include the cities of Talisay, Silay, Himamaylan and Cadiz and the municipalities of Calatrava and Moises Padilla because of intense political rivalry and presence of armed men.
"We still have to focus in these areas as part of the measures to preempt any violence," Belarma said.
The police provincial director though expressed confidence that the elections will be peaceful because the political climate has improved.
They have not monitored any sightings of New People's Army rebels in the mountainous area of Moises Padilla and Calatrava. |
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