POLICE forces in Central Visayas has been placed in full alert by the Police Regional Office 7 eight days before the mid-term election on May 13, 2013.
With the full alert declaration, Chief Supt. Marcelo Garbo, chief of PRO-7 said all members of the police force who are on leave are called to return to their assignments and all leave of absence applications will be put on hold.
Garbo said this is to make sure that all policemen are ready to respond to any election incident.
Garbo made this pronouncement in yesterday’s final conference before election day of the Regional Joint Security Control Committee (RJSCC) composed of PNP, AFP, Comelec, and other government agencies playing a role in the elections.
Garbo said they made some adjustment for deployment of troops in Bohol because of an election-related incident that occurred in Buenavista town.
A supporter of a local candidate in Buenavista town in Bohol was killed in a shootout last Sunday. Initial police investigation pointed out that the violence is election-related.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (CentCom) meanwhile will have an inspection of their troops in Camp Lapu-Lapu today, before they are deployed for election duties.
Lt. Col.Christopher Tampus, spokesman of the Centcom said the inspection is made to make sure that all troops called for election duty are ready for deployment.
Areas declared by the Comelec as under Election Watchlist Areas (Ewas) will receive augmentation forces from the PNP and the AFP.
All set
Temie Lambino, regional director of Comelec for his part said they are 100 percent ready for the election.
Different government agencies and non-government organizations are also ready to cooperate police security measures for the election.
According to Marilu Chiongbian, executive director of C-Cimpel (Cebu – Citizens Involvement and Maturation in People’s Empowerment and Liberation), a multi-sectoral election watchdog said all their members in the Central Visayas are ready for election duty. /Chito O. Aragon, Correspondent