200 BARMM policemen train as election officers

FILE PHOTO: The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government complex is located in Cotabato City. Photo by Bong S. Sarmiento

COTABATO CITY — Close to 200 police officers in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are being trained to serve as poll officials in the event that teachers would decline to serve during the May 9 elections due to security threats and other reasons.

Police Brig. Gen. Arthur Cabalona, BARMM police director, said the policemen had been sent to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the Board of Election Inspectors training so they could take over the teachers’ tasks in case some of them would not report on election day due to concerns about their safety or when they inhibit themselves during the balloting because of their relationship to some candidates.

Cabalona earlier directed all members of the BARMM police to avoid partisanship to ensure peaceful and orderly elections on May 9.

The BARMM police earlier identified 16 towns and two cities in the region as hot spots during the election period.

These areas, classified as “red” or “areas of immediate concern,” are characterized by intense political rivalry among local clans, incidence of violence in previous elections, and the presence of threats among armed groups there.

Among BARMM’s “red” areas for this year’s elections are the 10 towns in Maguindanao; three each in Basilan and Lanao del Sur; and the cities of Lamitan (Basilan) and Marawi (Lanao del Sur).

Cabalona said Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces had no “red” areas although some communities there had been listed as possible areas of concern. Almost all candidates for governor, vice governor, and representative are unopposed in these two provinces, he added. —EDWIN O. FERNANDEZ

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