By: Edwin O. Fernandez – @inquirerdotnet
Inquirer Mindanao / 05:00 AM September 08, 2023
COTABATO CITY—Officials of Maguindanao del Sur have asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to tap police officers to oversee the balloting in eight of the province’s 24 towns during the Oct. 30 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
Gov. Bai Mariam Mangudadatu said the proposal for policemen to serve as members of the local election boards was firmed up during Wednesday’s meeting of the provincial peace and order council (PPOC) held in Buluan town.
Mangudadatu noted that the eight towns had been initially assessed to be election “hot spots” by the Army and the Philippine National Police due to a history of intense political rivalry in these areas.
Based on an earlier pronouncement of the PNP, the potentially troublesome towns in the coming elections are Pandag, Datu Piang, Sultan sa Barongis, Pagalungan, Rajah Buayan, Datu Paglas, Datu Salibo and Buluan.
It was Pandag Mayor Mohajeran Balayman, during the PPOC meeting, who proposed the deployment of policemen to administer the Oct. 30 polls in these towns.
Balayman cited the situation in his town where some teachers who served during the 2022 general elections were facing charges for allegedly rigging the polls to favor his rival. Balayman had won the mayoral seat through an electoral protest.
Augmentation
Should the police in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) lack personnel, the PPOC said augmentation could come from the neighboring region of Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, General Santos or Region 12), according to Mangudadatu.
“Since [the elections] in our neighboring provinces are not as hotly contested as in our province, police from Region 12 may be deployed to serve as poll officials in our province, which according to the police, are considered areas of concern,” she said.
Mangudadatu said police officials, during the PPOC meeting, reported that out of 1,047 personnel in the province, only over 500 would be available for poll security duties.
“If approved, this will give enough personnel for PNP in the BARMM region to focus on security measures since police officers from Region 12 will act as poll officers in hotspot areas,” Balayman said.
The police leadership in the BARRM has yet to respond to requests for comments on Maguindanao del Sur’s proposal to the Comelec.
But last month, Brig. Gen. Allan Nobleza, BARMM police director, asked the Comelec to delay the village and youth council polls in the region due to existing rivalry among aspirants and rising cases of violence leading to the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Nobleza said even a delay of two or three weeks would allow the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP to focus their manpower on the region.
Cases of violence up
He said the police recorded over 350 shooting incidents across the region from January to Aug. 24. At least 21 of these attacks involved government officials, including village officials and those who have expressed intention to join the village polls.
But in anticipation of his proposal failing to get the Comelec’s nod, Nobleza said his office would deploy about 13,000 personnel across the region while also seeking augmentation of 6,000 more policemen to be assigned in “historically hot spot areas” in the BARMM.
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