Saturday, October 27, 2007 Comelec deputizes Westmincom to render pool duty By Bong Garcia
THE chief of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), in coordination with the Commission on Elections (Comelec), activated the Western Mindanao Command Election Monitoring Center (WMCEMC) and the Joint Intelligence Task Force Election (JITFE) for a peaceful and orderly conduct of the elections on Monday.
Major General Nelson Allaga's move came after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) deputized the Westmincom, through Resolution 8333, to fully support the Comelec in securing an environment conducive for the holding of an orderly, peaceful, and credible elections.
Westmincom's deputization was announced during the joint coordinating conference held on Thursday in line with the forthcoming synchronized Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) and barangay elections.
Allaga expressed confidence that the military-police assistance and security preparation are satisfactory and will redound to a smooth conduct of elections in the region.
Other top officials present during the conference are Zamboanga Peninsula Police Director Jaime Caringal, Comelec Regional Director Helen Aguila-Flores, Philippine National Police (PNP) Director for Operations Silverio Alarcio Jr., and other field unit commanders of the military and police in the region.
"Despite the magnitude of the anticipated requirements of the two regional offices of Comelec (Western Mindanao and Armm), Westmincom assures the optimum employment of its resources in close coordination with the police and other concerned agencies," Batara said.
Alarcio also expressed satisfaction on the level of preparedness and the close working relationship of all the concerned government agencies in the region.
Operational guidelines have also been issued to subordinate units prescribing Westmincom's action plan.
