ANGELES CITY, Pampanga -- Some 4,044 units of vote counting machines (VCMs) were transported from Cabuyao, Laguna to a warehouse in Barangay Cutcut here early Monday morning, police said.
Col. Narvin Mangune, acting director of the Angeles City Police Office (ACPO), said that security was tightened during the delivery of the VCMs.
"Our policemen beefed up the security escorts of eight trucks carrying VCMs during transport until it reached the hub here past 4 a.m.," Mangune said.
He said the VCMs will remain in an undisclosed warehouse in Angeles City and placed under tight guarding by the City Mobile Force Company, led by Lt. Colonel Romeo Castro, until the day the Commission on Elections (Comelec) takes them for deployment in Pampanga, Bulacan and Angeles City.
"The VCMs will be distributed to Comelec officers in Bulacan, Pampanga and in this city ahead of election day," Mangune said.
Castro said he directed to double the security at the perimeter of the warehouse where the VCMs are deposited for safekeeping.
The ACPO is set to deploy close to 600 policemen in 38 polling precincts across the city to ensure the safety of voters and maintain peace and order during the exercise of suffrage on May 13.
"I'm not expecting augmentation from higher police headquarters as no election-related violence has been recorded so far in previous political exercises here in Angeles," he said.
Mangune described the political atmosphere here as relatively peaceful, as candidates vying for various elective positions are civil and peace-loving personalities. (PNA)
