THE staging of the 2019 midterm elections in Davao Region has been generally peaceful, with no major untoward incidents.

Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao spokesperson Police Major Jason Baria said that as per monitoring of the security situation during the election Monday, May 13, there was no reported election-related incidents across the region.

But they recorded a single election-related violent incident in the region.

The brother of incumbent Mayor Rhodora “Doray” Alcoran of New Corella, identified as Rogelio Serrano Jr., 44, was shot dead on May 7 by unidentified gunmen in Purok 4, Barangay Poblacion, New Corella, Davao del Norte on May 7. He was the Administrative Aide 1 in the municipality of New Corella.

Alcoran is running for reelection as mayor under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago. The death of her brother is believed to be politically motivated.

In a send-off ceremony conducted on May 6 at PRO-Davao grandstand, a total of 8,386 personnel were deployed all over the region to take charge of the peace, order, and security of the 1,438 voting centers regionwide.

Although there were no reported threats directed in the region, PRO-Davao Director Marcelo Morales directed all the city and provincial directors to closely monitor and supervise the personnel on the ground to provide security.

The policemen were also reminded to maintain neutrality and be an apolitical organization and stay away from partisan politics.

The Eastern Mindanao Command also said that based on the consolidated update from election monitoring action centers, both from Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines, the election in Eastern Mindanao was generally peaceful.

Although there were technical glitches on election paraphernalia, these were attended to by Comelec and did not affect the security of the election and did not create a commotion or public disorder.