PNP sees ‘secure,’ ‘fair’ May polls

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has expressed confidence in the safety and security of the May 2013 midterm elections.

“Generally the situation is OK. We have some violent incidents but these are being investigated by our PNP investigators,” Deputy Director General Ager Ontog Jr, Deputy Chief PNP for operations, told reporters in an ambush interview Tuesday at the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“We are still very confident we will have secure and fair elections come May 13,” Ontog said.

The PNP has not yet made any recommendations to the Comelec for the declaration of election hotspots in areas in the country, he said.

In a report published on the website of the PNP, the total number of people arrested for violating the election gun ban has reached 1693 as of March 19.

“Since the activation of Comelec Resolution No. 9561-A up to March 19, 2013, the PNP has already confiscated 1710 firearms, 484 Bladed Weapons, 81 Grenades, 73 Firearms replicas and 297 other explosive devices,” the report said.

“This also resulted in the arrest of 1693 individuals which included 1540 civilians, 95 Security Guards, 20 Government employees, 22 PNP personnel, 12 military personnel, one Bureau of Jail Management and Penology personnel and one Bureau of Fire Protection personnel who were found carrying such items,” it added.

These accomplishments were the result of Comelec-supervised checkpoints and “on-the-spot gun check operations,” the report said.