PEACE COVENANT: Over 700 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) aspirants in Puerto Princesa signed Tuesday (May 1, 2018) a peace covenant to ensure peaceful, clean and honest elections on May 14. They also joined a unity walk that was organized together by the PNP, Wescom, and the local Comelec office. (Photo by Celeste Anna R. Formoso)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- Military and police authorities here warned Tuesday they will not hesitate to carry out the full force of the law against any candidate in the May 14 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls who will commit an election offense.
Lt. Gen. Rozzano Briguez, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Western Command (Wescom) in Palawan, issued the cautionary advice in front of over 700 barangay and SK aspirants following the conduct of a police-led unity walk and peace covenant signing in the city.
“We will not let you off if you violate the law. I’m sorry, but we will not let you off,” he warned.
Quoting a gathered data, he said the presence of election-related violence in Palawan “is a known fact,” particularly after the supporter of a mayoralty candidate in Brooke’s Point municipality was gunned down in an encounter in 2010.
Briguez added that in 2016, the human rights commission even identified the town of Quezon in Palawan as election “hot spot” due to politically-motivated violence in the area.
“A recent study of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance revealed that Palawan is included in the 15 provinces with the highest number of private armed groups (PAGS), having at least 14 active groups being utilized by politicians,” he said.
The data are important because if barangay and SK aspirants will not veer away from the view, more casualties will turn out as killings will continue, he said.
Chief Supt. Emmanuel Luis Licop, the regional director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Mimaropa Region, said the unity walk and the covenant signing for peace was done as a “mind-setting” for the candidates and the people to exercise their right to vote by adhering to a peaceful, clean, orderly, and honest election.
“What they are saying is that local elections like the barangay and SK polls are usually heated because of some highly-positioned politicians who make their influences felt. We want to prove to the public that this is not the case,” he said.
Licop, who has been going around Mimaropa to forge harmony marches and peace pledges among the May 14 election aspirants, said the PNP and the AFP are deputized agencies of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that will not hesitate to implement poll laws.
“As of now, region-wide, we are monitoring some areas, but fortunately for Palawan, we have no election watchlist of areas. Violence sometimes happens all of a sudden, or spur of the moment, so the PNP will be there to strictly monitor,” he stated.
Choke points and checkpoints had already been established, he added, to oversee “Oplan Katok” to ensure that the election gun ban is not violated.
Brig. Gen. Nathaniel Casem, commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade (3MBDE), said this will be supported in the city by the presence of the newly-established Joint Task Group Puerto Princesa (JTGPP), and in Palawan by three others that are operating under the Wescom’s Joint Task Force Peacock (JTFP).
“In Puerto Princesa, we organized the JTGPP composed of different military units and the city government to have a dedicated AFP group to maintain peace and order here in very close cooperation with the PNP,” he said.
Meanwhile, City Comelec head Ferdinand Bermejo encouraged the aspirants to do their share in the holding of a violence-free and honest election on May 14.
“Win or lose, you should be responsible for taking care of the removal of your own campaign materials. Campaign by presenting your platforms and not by throwing dirt at each other,” he said.
The unity walk means to encourage amicability and understanding for an orderly conduct of the barangay and SK polls, saying “politics is an art of public service” that should not be abused by mudslinging, slander, and defamation against rival candidates.
The aspirants who joined the unity walk and peace covenant signing represented Puerto Princesa’s 66 barangays.
Connie Reynoso, who is running for councilor of Barangay Princesa after reaching the limit of her term as its chairman, said she attended as she is also an advocate of a clean and peaceful election.
“I’ve been attending activities like this ever since because I believe that its aim is what we all need. This is an exercise we have to undergo in our desire to serve our communities, and if it is marred by violence and commission of election offense, then that does not show the desire to honestly serve the people,” she said.
Also present during the event were City Police Office Director Senior Supt. Ronnie Cariaga, Palawan Provincial Police Office Director Senior Supt. Gabriel Lopez, and 2nd Special Operations Unit-Maritime Group chief Senior Supt. Greg Togonon. (PNA)
