Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, NCRPO chief (File photo by NIÑO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — With only 16 days left before the elections, Metro Manila’s top cop urged on Saturday his personnel not to miss their opportunity to vote in the midterm elections on May 13.
Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), urged police officers to find time to vote even if they would be on duty on election day.
“While it is true that PNP [Philippine National Police] serves and protects our countrymen so they may peacefully exercise their right to vote, most of our policemen disregard their own rights to suffrage,” Eleazar said in a statement. “It is the very reason that I would like to encourage all policemen, especially those who come from their hometowns in the provinces, that every vote counts and your votes are equally significant.”
Under Resolution No. 10443 of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), police officers are entitled to avail of absentee voting, provided, they are duly registered voters and temporarily assigned in places where they are not registered.
The Comelec has scheduled April 29 and 30 and May 1 for absentee voting of police officers assigned at the NCRPO and the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame.
These officers may vote at the following locations:
- Camp Crame Multi-purpose Hall in Quezon City
- Malabon City Police Station
- Eastern Police District headquarters on Caruncho Avenue in Pasig
- Pateros Municipal Hall
- Quezon City Police District headquarters
- Regional Mobile Force Batallion Multipurpose Hall in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig
Eleazar said that police officers should take advantage of local absentee voting to maximize their deployment on election day.
“Again, I exhort all policemen to vote and vote wisely,” he said. “Our country deserves good leaders and we will be able to attain this by exercising our right to suffrage wisely.”
/atm