THE Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 will be on red alert status starting 7 a.m. today, October 9, as part of its preparations for the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC) for the 2019 mid-term elections on Thursday.
Chief Supt. Debold Sinas, PRO 7 director, said they will monitor drug personalities who might run for a political post.
He said they might ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to nullify their candidacies.
Sinas also asked political aspirants not to bring guns or allow their escorts to carry firearms to the election offices.
“Even if your gun is licensed, but if you have no permit to carry, we will arrest you,” he said.
The red alert status means that no personnel are allowed to go on leave and their vacation leaves are cancelled.
Random checkpoints will be intensified in major thoroughfares.
Sinas said PRO 7 has an election monitoring center, which will record the number of candidates who have filed their COCs and what positions they are running for.
PRO 7, he said, will also identify places with intense political rivalries so it can give them special attention.
Sinas ordered the provincial and city police directors to coordinate with their respective election officers for the security preparations.
He said police officers will be deployed to secure the Comelec offices in the region.
Meanwhile, political aspirants in Cebu City must file their certificates of candidacy at the Comelec Cebu City first district office.
This was the reminder Comelec First District Election Officer Marchel Sarno gave to bets seeking government office in the 2019 midterm elections.
“We’re ready (for elections) since preparations are minimal because only a few people are running. All filing of COC in Cebu City should be done in the north district,” Sarno said.
He also reminded aspirants to secure all necessary documents before filing their COCs to avoid problems.
The filing period is from Oct. 11 to 12 and Oct. 15 to 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
All copies must be duly notarized by a lawyer, and bear the official seal along with the signature and thumbprint of the aspirant.
Certificates of nomination and acceptance of the aspirant shall be filed simultaneously with the COC.
All copies should be originally accomplished and duly signed by both the authorized person to nominate and the nominee.
An incomplete COC will not be accepted and stamped received at the time it is filed.
Based on an unofficial report dated Oct. 1, there were 714,421 registered voters in Cebu City. Around 386,485 are from the south district, while 327,936 are from the north.
Of the number, 23,064 in the south district and 20,462 in the north registered from July to Sept. 29 this year. (KAL, RTF)