Albayalde: PNP no longer expects violence-free polls

BAGUIO CITY—Saying village poll rivalries have become too personal, Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde on Friday said law enforcers “can no longer achieve a violence-free election” on May 14.

Albayalde noted that despite higher police visibility across the country in the run-up to the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls, the PNP still recorded 15 violent crimes deemed election-related as of May 4.

“The barangay elections are expected to be more personal and more intense, because it is usually among friends, family and neighbors,” he said.

The PNP chief made the statement before meeting with police officials of the Cordillera, Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions to discuss security plans for the elections.

The majority of the crimes took place in the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Abra, which had been classified along with Masbate as election “hot spots” in earlier polls.

Election tellers

Albayalde said one solution employed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was to assign policemen, instead of teachers, to the village board of election tellers (BET) in hot spots.

In Kalinga province for example, the Comelec has requested that the BET be made up of six police officers in Barangay Mabongtot, Lubuagan town, he said.

The PNP has placed 5,744 barangays under its election watch list, due to intense political rivalries, killings and insurgency, he said.

The region with the highest number of hot spots is Bicol with 1,258 barangays, followed by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao with 832 villages, and Central Luzon with 504.

“There is a law that says the police and other uniformed personnel will have to stay 50 meters away from the polling areas. But if election officers request our help and if it concerns their safety, we will do our job,” Albayalde said. —KIMBERLIE NGABIT-QUITASOL