A DAY before the start of the local campaign period, the Police Regional Office (PRO 11) launched "A Ride for S.A.F.E. 2019", an information and advocacy campaign calling for a safe, secure and credible 2019 Midterm elections.
The activity was led by PRO 11 Regional Director Marcelo Morales and was participated by members of the Police Riders Response and all police riders in the region on Thursday, March 28.
The campaign period for local positions starts Friday, March 29.
The motorcade started at PRO 11, Camp Sgt Quintin M Merecido, Buhangin, Davao City and passed through different barangays in Davao City going to Tagum City, Davao del Norte.
Morales recognized the important role of the Police Riders' Response in ensuring peace and order during the election period.
The police on motorcycles will also increase the chance of detection and arrest of criminals, thus, reducing crimes.
"There are many criminals now who exploit the inability of our police officers to chase them through the narrow streets. We expect these streets to get narrower even more as more vehicles hit the streets and traffic gets worse. This is also why we need more of these motorcycle officers to go after these criminals and patrol on the streets.These motorcycle cops can also immediately provide rapid response to any call of police assistance should there be election-related incidents in the region," Morales said.
Based on the record of the Regional Monitoring and Action Center, there have been a total of 132 persons arrested for violating the election gun ban.
A total of 86 small arms, 37 light weapons, 26 explosives, and 1,283 ammunition were confiscated for the period of January 13 to March 26 as the result of PRO 11's intensified campaign against loose firearms.
"PRO 11 would like to extend to the general public that this call for SAFE 2019 will connect to the people in the community, as well as to all political candidates to cooperate for a peaceful National and Local Midterm Elections 2019," he added.