CENTRAL Luzon Police Director Matthew Baccay on Monday, April 18, 2022, appealed to candidates in the May 9 national and local elections not to use the Philippine National Police (PNP) in their propaganda war.
The Police Regional Office-Central Luzon top cop's statement came after the PNP was dragged in a supposed erroneous crowd estimate of the grand campaign rally of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis Pangilinan, dubbed "Manalakaran" at a mall in the City of San Fernando last April 9, 2022.
In reports, the PNP was cited as the entity that gave the estimated crowd at more than 220,000, which instantly drew flak from netizens who accused organizers and police of allowing overcrowding when the venue could allegedly only hold about 70,000.
"No, the estimate of 220,000 came from the organizers. We are not in the business of making estimates. We provide route and area security only," he said in an earlier statement.
Acting City of San Fernando, Pampanga police chief Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Marcelo said in an earlier interview that the crowd numbered just about 70,000, “not 200,000” as being claimed on various digital platforms and which issue still rages on social media.
Organizers of the rally, for their part, defended the estimate, using the 1 meter x 1 meter density calculation, ranging in an area from eight to 12 hectares.
"Actually, at the very onset, we have emphasized that we are not after numbers but the experience supporters would get from 'Manalakaran' (standing up). Still, we had to make the estimate when we saw the huge crowd massing up as early as 12:00 noon," organizers said.
Baccay said the PNP is not supposed to take sides and will ensure that the elections remain peaceful and orderly.
"We remain to be apolitical, and it is our fervent hope that elections 2022 will be safe, accurate, free, and fair," he said in the statement.