It’s back to barracks for cops on poll duty

PNP spokesperson Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. INQUIRER.NET FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Back to barracks.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday started recalling 30,000 police personnel who were sent to different parts of the country to augment local police forces on election day.

The policemen were deployed last week to assume election duties like manning police assistance desks and securing polling centers, said Chief Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., the PNP spokesperson.

He said the 200 police officers who served as members of the special board of election inspectors in Lanao del Sur during the May 13 balloting have also returned to their mother unit in Cebu.

“The PNP ordered the pull-out of our augmentation forces as we have already passed the critical period of the 2013 elections,” Cerbo told a Camp Crame press briefing.

He said 18,000 of the policemen were assigned to administrative offices of various PNP units while the rest were police recruits who were still undergoing training.

“We understand that they need to go back to their respective units to attend to their regular responsibilities,” he said.

The withdrawal of the augmentation forces did not mean that the PNP would cease providing security to canvassing centers and offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Cerbo said.

He said the entire 148,000-strong PNP would remain on full alert until the election period ends on June 13.

“The PNP will continue to secure the canvassing areas until this whole electoral process is finished. Policemen will also help protect election paraphernalia being returned to Comelec offices,” he said.

On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas commended the PNP leadership for making last Monday’s balloting “safer and less bloody” than the two previous elections.

The interior secretary said the security preparations of the PNP proved successful in minimizing the incidence of violence since the election period started on January 13.

“We should commend the government agencies, particularly the PNP, the Armed Forces and the Comelec, for ensuring honest, orderly and peaceful elections this year,” Roxas said.

“After the long preparations of the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) and PNP, we gave the people the power to vote,” he said.