The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said monitoring is continuous in areas with a history of poll-related violence, in coordination with the Philippine National Police, to ensure peaceful Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30.
DILG assistant director for National Barangay Operations Office, Izza Marie Laurio, said the PNP is keeping an eye on at least 356 “areas of grave concern,” majority of which are located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“Our policy is that we will deploy more cops, if needed,” the official said in a news forum Saturday. “We will deploy our uniformed personnel in areas where there have been records of violence, in hot spots.”
More than 1.41 million filed certificates of candidacy for barangay captain, seats in the sangguniang barangay (kagawad), SK chair, and SK council.
Laurio said the DILG is ramping up its campaign to encourage more people to exercise their rights to vote and prevent both vote buying and selling.
PNP information chief and spokesperson, Col. Jean Fajardo, meanwhile, said the police would go on full alert status four days before the BSKE and until All Souls’ Day on Nov 2.
“We will continue our vigilance and we have enough PNP personnel to cover both major events,” Fajardo said in a radio interview yesterday.
Fajardo said extending the alert status until Christmas will depend on the recommendations of field commanders.
Earlier, the PNP said 4,429 police officers are ready to serve as board of election inspectors (BEIs), deputized by the Commission on Elections.
As BEIs, the cops will not carry guns because they are inside the polling centers but police assistance desks will be near the polling centers.
Among the country’s 42,001 barangays, aside from the 356 in red category or areas of grave concern, 1,196 are under the yellow category, or with history of election-related incidents in the last polls and previously declared under the control of the Comelec; 1,325 are under the orange category, or with serious armed threat; and the rest are classified under the green category, or generally peaceful and orderly and have no cause for concern.
In Negros Occidental, there are 51 election areas of concern (EACs), with three barangays under the red category, 45 under orange, and three under the yellow category. | NND with PNA
