PNP 10 spokesperson Major Joanne Navarro shows data and graphs for the Barangay & SK elections to reporters during a voters education forum sponsored by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and Hanns Seidel Foundation in Cagayan de Oro City Saturday, September 16, 2023. MindaNews photo by FROILAN GALLARDO
CAGAYAN DE ORO (MindaNews / 18 September) — Thirteen candidates in Region 10 in the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 30 face “high risks” of becoming victims of violence, police said on Saturday.
Major Joanne Navarro, Philippine National Police 10 spokesperson, did not identify the threatened candidates but said seven are in Lanao del Norte, three are in Misamis Occidental, two are in Bukidnon, and one is in Misamis Oriental.
Navarro, speaking to journalists during the B&SK voters education seminar organized by the Cagayan de Oro Press Club and the Hanns Seidel Foundation, said their intelligence office also identified 69 other candidates who are considered to be facing “medium risks.”
She said these 69 candidates are in Bukidnon, 27; Misamis Occidental, 19; Misamis Oriental, 18; Lanao del Norte, 3; and Iligan City, 2.
“The campaigning would be pretty intense since many of the candidates are neighbors and friends,” she said.
Navarro said the PNP will deploy at least 7,500 police personnel including bomb disposal experts and combat officers throughout the nine cities, five provinces, 84 municipalities and 2,022 barangays in the region.
She said these personnel are tasked to keep an eye on 197 villages that are “areas of concern” in the region on election day.
“We will cancel all leaves of absence of all policemen starting next month,” she said.
She added 155 of the 197 “areas of concern” have a history of election-related violence and are now placed under the “orange category.”
Aleli Ramirez, Commission on Elections Bukidnon provincial officer, said unscrupulous persons might take advantage of the manual voting on October 30.
“It would be better that we remain vigilant and catch the culprits,” Ramirez said.
Election lawyer Florentino Dumlao Jr. said the old cheating scheme “Cadena de Amor” might be revived in the barangay elections.
Dumlao said ”Cadena de Amor” starts with the first voter in the chain getting a real ballot, and pretending to fill it up but inserts a fake ballot.
“That voter would give the real ballot to the next voter who would insert it into the ballot box. The voter would give his ballot to the next and the chain is now made,” Dumlao explained.
He also told the journalists to watch the money trail of candidates who will usually start withdrawing their money weeks before October 30. (Froilan Gallardo/MindaNews)
