Over 21.6K uniformed personnel to secure Oct. 30 polls in W. Visayas

A total of 21,694 uniformed personnel will ensure the safe conduct of the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) in Western Visayas.

The security forces composed of 12,486 from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO6), 30 from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), 6,741 from the Joint Task Force Spear and the 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) and 2,437 from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), together with logistical resources, were endorsed to the Regional Joint Security Control Center (RJSCC) during the multi-agency send-off and turnover ceremony at the Camp Martin Delgado regional headquarters in Iloilo City Monday, Oct. 23.

PRO6 Regional Director Brig. Gen. Sidney Villaflor, 3ID commander Maj. Gen. Marion Sison, PCG commander Arnaldo Lim, BFP Deputy City Fire Marshall Mark Angelo Caligdong and Area Police Command Visayas commander Lt. Gen. Patrick Villacorte attended the ceremony.

In an interview, Regional Elections Director (RED) lawyer Dennis Ausan said security personnel should perform within the bounds of their office, serve as the real law enforcement officers and observe the rules and regulations the commission has laid down for them.

“So far so good. We are on the right track in our preparations going to the last week towards Oct. 30, and everything practically has already been laid down for the elections day,” he said.

Ausan said they focus on all areas in the region as they found no need for a preferential focus on a particular place.

“We have already approved our security plans, and all the deployment will be in accordance with the security plans approved by the Joint Regional Security Control Center,” he added.

One week before the election day, Ausan said the election areas of concern remained at 172 after they were reviewed and reevaluated by the RJSCC.

They included 92 in Iloilo province, 51 in Negros Occidental, 14 in Capiz, 12 in Antique, two in Aklan and one in Iloilo City.

“They are monitoring closely the situation on the ground, and they can recommend if there is a need to re-categorize an area,” he added.

They have not also recorded any election- related violence as of date.

During the ceremony, Villaflor turned over 14 units of patrol cars, 167 units of basic assault rifles, ammunition, raincoats, tactical vests, undershirt vests and tactical vests to selected police units and municipal police stations in the region.* (Perla Lena, PNA)