(Photo courtesy of PNP)
MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has successfully contained the usual outbreak of violence in Mindanao during the May 9 elections.
PNP directorate for operations, Maj. Gen. Valeriano De Leon, in an interview Wednesday, attributed this to early security preparations and real-time adjustments on the ground.
De Leon, concurrent commander of the PNP national and local election task force, said the good working relationship with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should also be credited since the poll body facilitated the movement of police personnel to areas with serious security concerns in Mindanao.
"If you would compare the data of this year's elections and that of the past elections, you would notice a significant decrease of (election-related) incidents in Mindanao. It really went down," he said.
The PNP has recorded 52 incidents on election day across the country, 21 of them were classified as serious, and almost all happened in Mindanao.
Based on the data, the six fatalities recorded on election day were all in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) particularly in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao through shooting incidents and explosions.
De Leon said that aside from early preparations, the real-time security adjustment also played a key role in preventing violent incidents in Mindanao.
This is the reason, according to him, why he opted to stay in Mindanao in order to personally supervise the implementation of security measures, particularly in the BARMM. (PNA)
