Police take measures to guard Davao polls against NPA

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—An elaborate security plan has been laid down to secure several villages on the outskirts of Davao City against perceived threats from the New People’s Army during the mid-term national and local elections in May, the local police announced Thursday.

Senior Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa, Davao City’s chief of police, said the presence of NPA rebels in the outlying districts of Paquibato, Baguio, and Marilog has caused the Commission on Elections  to place these areas under Category 2 on its election watchlist.

These districts are considered the city’s remotest areas, with Marilog lying some 30 kilometers away from the downtown area, Paquibato 32 kilometers, and Baguio district 25 kilometers away.

“There are two categories under the Comelec’s watch list. Category I [pertains] to the presence of intense partisan politics and prevalence of election-related violence; and Category 2 [pertains] to the presence of insurgents,” Dela Rosa said.

This is the first time that Baguio district is listed under Category 2.

Dela Rosa said the city police office, in cooperation with the military, will be deploying nearly 1,400 policemen and soldiers to at least 10 villages in these three districts to beef up security there during the elections. He said the number could still go up, depending on the situation.

“Untoward incidents are expected to arise in the said areas anytime during the election period due to the presence of NPA rebels,” Dela Rosa told reporters here.

He said the mere presence of the rebels in the villages was enough to “threaten voters against exercising their right to vote and would trigger other election-related unlawful acts.”

Besides, Dela Rosa claimed the police have confirmed that the rebels plan to intensify their anti-government operations during the midterm polls.

“They have intensified their attacks this early so we have anticipated more NPA-instigated violence to occur on Election Day,” Lieutenant General Jorge Segovia, chief of the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command here, said in a separate news conference.

He cited attacks in nearby areas in March alone in which in which at least four people were killed. The incidents included at least four rebel assaults in Compostela Valley.

During the NPA’s anniversary on March 30, the Communist Party of the Philippines announced “impressive” accomplishment of communist guerrillas in Mindanao and said other fronts should follow suit with more attacks.