Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Barangay, SK polls in Pampanga generally peaceful: police By Albert B. Lacanlale and Marna H. Dagumboy
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Despite the “heat” involved in the highly contested positions in the village level, the holding of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in Pampanga remained peaceful, according to Police Provincial Director Keith Ernald Singian.
However, Singian also noted some violations of election laws.
In Barangay San Antonio, for instance, voters Josefina Canda Salas and Kenny Paulo were victimized by “flying voters.” In Barangay Dau in Mabalacat, six men were arrested for posting campaign materials at the Dau Central Elementary.
In a radio interview, Singian said although the Police Provincial Office (PPO) has closely monitored several areas where untoward election-related incidents happened in the past, no “hot spots” were noted in the province.
Election “hotspots” are those areas prone to election violence.
Policemen, although, were also deployed to various areas in anticipation of any incident that may iccur as a result of the gathering of crowd in areas where elections were held.
In Mexico, policemen were stationed near public schools. But there were also polling places where there was no police deployment.
Singian also pointed out that the PPO has initiated peace covenants among candidates in each barangay to assure that rival camps would not resort to violence during the entire election process.
About 1,207,964 registered voters were expected to flood the 7,617 polling precincts in the province for the barangay election. The number excludes the more than 72,000 registered voters for the SK election.
To maintain peace and order during the elections, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had earmarked P255,151,000 for the PNP and P100 million for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Singian said the areas concerned that were closely monitored include the towns of Mexico, Arayat, Candaba, and Sta.Ana.
