Police beef up security in 6 South Cotabato towns

KORONADAL CITY––Police have beefed up security in six municipalities in South Cotabato province that they consider “areas of concern” or potential hotspots in line with Monday’s elections.

Capt. Renjun Bagaman, public information officer of the South Cotabato Police Provincial Office, said they deployed additional personnel starting Thursday to secure and ensure “safe and fair” elections in these areas.

He said Banga town was placed under the red category or “areas of grave concern” due to election-related incidents in previous polls.

The municipality, through recommendations from the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was declared a possible hotspot by the Commission on Elections Comelec as early as the 2007 due to the reported presence of armed groups.

Bagaman said Comelec has also placed five other municipalities – Tupi, Tampakan, Polomolok, Lake Sebu, and Tboli – under the orange category or “areas of immediate concern.”

“These are mainly slight threats. Our public safety forces are already deployed to secure these areas,” he said in a media forum.

He said this city and the municipalities of Tantangan, Surallah, Norala, and Sto. Nino are under the green category or areas with no security concern, while none was placed under the yellow category.

Comelec identified those under the yellow category as areas with a history of election-related violence or the existence of political rivalry, orange as areas with serious armed threats by terrorist groups or other armed groups, and red as areas with a political climate warranting the declaration of Comelec control.

Since the start of the election period on Jan. 9, Bagaman said they had not recorded any election-related incidents or violence in the province.

He said the killing of Barangay Veterans, Surallah councilor and former barangay chairman Eugene Lastrella in Barangay Sinolon, Tboli town on April 27 was isolated and not related to the May 9 elections.

Bagaman said around 800 police personnel, or 75 percent of their current strength, have been assigned to various poll duties in the province’s 10 towns and lone city.

These include securing polling centers and precincts in the 199 barangays and assisting the transport of Vote Counting Machines or VCMs and other election materials.

The Police Regional Office (PRO)-12 had also deployed additional police personnel as reserve or standby force, he said.

On Wednesday, PRO-12 held a ceremonial sendoff of 939 augmentation personnel for poll duties, with 326 assigned as reserve contingent, 302 as quick response force, 123 for the Comelec checkpoints, and 188 to the polling centers.

A total of 975,541 residents of South Cotabato, including General Santos City, are eligible to vote in Monday’s polls.

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