Police Chief Supt. Manuel Gaerlan of the Police Regional Office in Region 11 (PRO 11) issued the directive on Sunday (May 8) as he urged the public to immediately report to authorities the presence of any armed persons in their area.
In a briefing Sunday, PRO 11 spokeswoman Chief Insp. Andre dela Cerna said the Philippine National Police (PNP) “perseveres in its efforts to maintain transparency and integrity in the safekeeping of the ballots, VCMs, and other election paraphernalia in order to prevent election mischief.”
To ensure and safeguard the integrity of the electoral process, the PNP had enabled the regional election monitoring action center (REMAC) for “Bantay Eleksyon,” created to monitor all election activities.
Aside from the 4,369 personnel deployed for election duties, a Reactionary Standby Support Force was also created in case augmentation was needed.
Police have identified 36 towns and cities in the Davao Region under the election watchlist areas (EWA).
There are three EWA categories: Category 1 are areas with a history of election-related violence; Category 2 are those with the presence of lawless armed groups; Category 3 are those with both armed groups and election violence.
Two cities and two municipalities are under Category 1; 28 towns, two districts, and one city are under Category 2; and only one town is under Category 3.
Davao City (CNN Philippines) — The local police had been alerted against the possibility of voters being harassed or intimidated to prevent them from voting on Monday (May 9).
