No cronies in campaign vs private armies—Roxas

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas on Wednesday warned politicians that their political affiliations or connections would not protect them from the government campaign to crack down on private armed groups in the interest of holding violence-free elections in 2013.

“First, we will talk to them. But make no mistake. We will enforce the law. We will focus on this.   We won’t let anyone get away with it. There will be no cronies, allies or whatever. Our objective is to have a quiet, peaceful and orderly election,” Roxas told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo.

Roxas said there definitely are politicians who are maintaining private armed groups. He knew this even before he took the interior portfolio, and the media know the identities of these politicians, he said.

“We can see in the history of certain places if the incidents (of election violence) increase or not with every election. We can see in the movement of people through intelligence (information) if there are unauthorized movements or if there are unwelcome presences (in an area). This way we can prepare,” he said.