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PNP personnel to act as BEIs in Lanao Sur special polls

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan

May 18, 2022, 6:42 pm

MANILA – Personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) will serve as Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEIs) deputized by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in 12 barangays in Tuburan, Lanao del Sur in the special elections to be held on May 24, a police official said on Wednesday.

PNP Director for Operations, Maj. Gen. Valeriano De Leon, said they are continuously coordinating with the Comelec and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) so as to ensure that no new failures of election would be declared in any barangays.

As part of the security preparations, police officers will serve as SBEIs, he said in a statement.

"Definitely, the BEIs there will be police officers who have been trained and authorized by the Comelec as SBEIs. The PNP has been in touch with the AFP commanders in the region, and we will deploy substantial forces on the ground," De Leon said.

Last month, around 1,000 police officers were trained as BEIs. Due to security concerns, majority of them were tapped on election day in Cotabato City and some areas of Maguindanao.

With the declaration of failure of elections in 12 barangays in Tuburan, De Leon said the use of police officers as BEIs is a sensible security measure.

He said they are now sketching out steps to prevent unscrupulous local politicians from utilizing flying voters.

In various areas of Mindanao, the use of flying voters has always been one of the biggest challenges affecting the integrity of elections.

Sana doon sa mga nagtatangkang gumamit ng flying voters ay huwag niyo na gawin ito dahil hindi kayo makakalusot sa scrunity ng mga election officers, mga pulis that were trained as SBEIs at ang mga security cluster would always be there to assist (I hope those who are trying to use flying voters do not do it because you will not be able to escape the scrunity of election officers. Police who were trained as SBEIs and the security clusters would always be there to assist), " said De Leon.

In collaboration with the Comelec and the AFP, De Leon committed to safeguarding the 12 barangays in Tuburan from being disenfranchised once more.

"We want to avoid flying voters, we don't want any violence in the precinct, and we want to accommodate as many registered voters as possible in the area," he said.

He also warned armed groups who are attempting to sabotage or influence the conduct of the polls that the PNP is prepared to foil any of their schemes.

Ito naman ang sinabi ng ating Pangulong (Rodrigo) Duterte at ng ating PNP officer-in-charge, Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr., na dapat ay maging maayos ang ating eleksyon, at ito naman ang ating pinaghandaan at patuloy na ginagawa sa ngayon (that our election should be orderly, and this is what we have prepared and continue to do today)," De Leon noted.

Meanwhile, the PNP was lauded for its election security preparation, which led to a significant decrease in election-related incidents (ERIs).

De Leon said the PNP was recognized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the Comelec.

"This merely demonstrates the effectiveness of early security preparations." "Nagpapasalamat kami sa dedikasyon ng ating mga kapulisan na talagang ginawa ang lahat (We thank our dedicated police personnel who did everything) to make sure that we will have peaceful and credible elections," he said.

Earlier, Danao said this year's ERIs are much lower compared to elections since the 2010 presidential elections.

“Compared with the previous elections, peaceful ngayon kasi in the past medyo mataas yung documented natin dito at marami na po nagsasabi maliban sa napakabilis na proseso ng Comelec. Ang PPCRV ay nagsabi na rin ng kanilang pahayag na napaka peaceful nitong election natin (this year's elections was peaceful compared in the past elections where we documented higher ERIs. Even the Comelec and PPCRV said this yer's elections was peaceful)," said De Leon

In Mindanao, where elections are always marred by election violence, the same observation was made.

"We could not disregard some of the incidents that happened in Mindanao, but these are relatively minor and isolated incidents in the region," said De Leon, who was in Mindanao until after the national and local elections on May 9 to personally supervise the deployment of PNP personnel there.

"The election in Mindanao was quite peaceful, and although we have special elections coming up, they are relatively controllable," he said. (PNA) 

 

 

 

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