THE top poll officer in Misamis Oriental said Wednesday, April 24, there were three municipal election officers who requested that the election from the conflict-affected areas in the province be held in the town proper.
Provincial Commission on Elections (Comelec) supervisor Aleli Dayo-Ramirez said there were requests that the voting in May 13 elections in rebel-infested villages from the towns of Magsaysay, Lagonglong and Villanueva be held in the town proper.
"Naghangyo sila nga i-move ang votation sa ubos," Ramirez said.
But Ramirez said the request was rejected after the military and police assured security of the election process in the conflict-affected communities.
"But with them, the PNP and military assured nga kaya nila protektahan ug i-maintain ang peace and order sa area so didto ra gihapon ang election," she added.
Ramirez made the statement during the final provincial command conference with the police, military, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Education (DepEd) in a hotel in Cagayan de Oro City.
She said all election preparations will be put in place, including the deployment of teachers who will serve on the elections on May 10.
Ramirez said the final testing and sealing of the vote counting machines (VCM) will also be done on May 10.
The province has around 1,275 clustered precincts and the provincial Comelec office assured that there are contingency VCMs should there be technical glitches on the election day.
Police provincial director Colonel Rolando Destura also assured that police deployment and security plans are also in full swing.
Destura said more than a thousand police personnel are involved in the elections province-wide.
"Ready na ang mga personnel natin," Destura said.