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Region 12 braces for election day

By DANNY SABINO
Kapayapaan Kapatid Council

GENERAL SANTOS CITY. – “Siguradong matutuloy ang election na walang dayaang mangyayari (The elections will happen and there will be no cheating).”

So said Police Chief Inspector Jomar Alexis Yap of the Philippine National Police  Region 12 during a recent interview at the local  radio station’s “Talakayan ng Pulisya at Masa.”

Since January, more than 6,000 Commission on Elections checkpoints and 62 police checkpoints have been set up. More than 149 firearms were confiscated in compliance with the gun ban.

A total of 1,374 policemen and 2,752 soldiers will be fielded in various precincts to protect the recently arrived 2,888 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

Additional troops will be deployed in Cotabato City near Maguindanao province. Also arriving in Mindanao are members of the International Observers Mission to keep an eye on the country’s electoral exercise.

Special security plans were also laid down in 15 towns in the region to secure personnel in polling centers in areas where the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, New People’s Army and other armed groups are operating. These include the coastal areas of Sultan Kudarat, conflict areas in Sarangani, and the municipal boundaries of Lambayong, President Quirino and Esperanza in North Cotabato.

A total of 46 peace covenants for the peaceful conduct of election have been signed.

The PNP was also alerted to the possibility of power interruptions, inadequate communication signals and transportation difficulties.