GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 06 May) – Authorities have tightened security in seven municipalities in Region 12 due to the possible occurrence of violent incidents in Monday’s national and local elections.
Lawyer Renato Magbutay, director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 12, said these are Palimbang, Columbio and President Quirino towns in Sultan Kudarat, Maitum and Maasim in Sarangani, Pikit in North Cotabato and Banga in South Cotabato.
He said the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines classified these areas under the red category or areas of grave concern.
The concerned localities have recorded violent incidents and related threats in the previous elections mainly due to intense political rivalry and the presence of armed elements.
Magbutay cited the case of Maasim and Maitum, which were tagged as potential election hotspots “because of the presence of CTGs (communist terrorist groups).”
“They are not under Comelec control but areas of concern. There should be sufficient number of military and (police) personnel in those areas and prioritized for the security preparations,” he said in a radio interview Thursday night.
On Wednesday, Comelec-12 led the ceremonial sendoff here for 1,090 personnel from the PNP, AFP and the Philippine Coastguard deployed in parts of the region in preparation for the polls.
The Police Regional Office-12 assigned 939 augmentation personnel for poll duties, with 326 serving as reserve contingent, 302 as quick response force, 123 for the Comelec checkpoints, and 188 to the polling centers.
Magbutay said the final preparations for the conduct of Monday’s elections are ongoing in parts of the region and cited that they are already “95 percent ready.”
He said they are still addressing some minor concerns, among them the technical problems encountered with the several Vote Counting Machines (VCM) during the Final Testing and Sealing here and in other areas that will run until Saturday.
“But it’s only minimal. We have addressed that already,” he said.
Magbutay said they sent the faulty VCMs to the designated repair hub in Davao City and expects their return before the voting on Monday.
“It’s good that we found the glitches earlier and not during the election day as we still have time to repair the VCMs,” the official said, adding that they have also set aside limited contingency machines.
Comelec-12 data showed that a total of 2,606,492 residents are expected to cast their votes in Monday’s elections.
South Cotabato, including this city, has 975,541 registered voters, followed by North Cotabato with 771,206, Sultan Kudarat with 497,690, and Sarangani with 362,055. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)
