(PNA file photo)
MANILA – An official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Monday said poll-related violence in Mindanao is still relatively lower compared to previous elections.
In a press conference in Camp Crame, Quezon City, PNP Directorate for Operations Director, Maj. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said 100 percent of the polling precincts in the region have functioned.
De Leon said they are validating reports of poll-related violence.
"Meron kasi nagrereport, they are blowing (this) out of proportion kaya vina-validate bago namin kino-confirm (There are people reporting about this and they are blowing [this] out of proportion. That is why we are validating this so we can confirm this first hand)," he said.
In the same press briefing, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said no reports of vote stoppage have been received as of 3 p.m.
She said the PNP helped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) by escorting its personnel and service providers to transport replacement vote-counting machines while police visibility reassured voters that reports of failure of elections are unfounded.
Overall, she said the polls can be classified as peaceful despite untoward incidents reported in some regions.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said 26,299 out of the 33,286 registered persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) cast their votes in supervised jail facilities.
In a statement, BJMP chief Director Allan Iral said as of 2 p.m., there were no poll-related incidents in the onsite polling areas of the bureau’s jail facilities and offsite precincts.
He noted that 24,979 BJMP PDLs voted in the onsite polling places of its jail facilities while 1,320 inmates cast their votes offsite.
He said the number of voters might increase while the ballots from the special various polling places are transported to the precincts.
Despite being included in the Comelec list of qualified voters, some PDLs decided not to vote foir personal reasons while others were transferred to Bureau of Corrections jails or have been released. (With a report from Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
