Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 9) — New Philippine National Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar said preparations for next year’s elections won’t be difficult for the police as they are used to handling large events.
“Itong elections na darating ay hindi na bago sa atin. We have been with so many events…itong eleksyon natin ay ‘yung parang ginagawa natin sa ating vaccination deployment,” Eleazar told CNN Philippines in an interview on Sunday.
[Translation: The coming elections is nothing new to us. We have been with so many events…the elections is similar to what we have been doing in our vaccination deployment.]
He said security coverage for the elections would not be any different from the protection given when transporting ballot boxes.
“With regards to the other concerns in security, part naman ng trabaho natin ‘yan. Hindi na natin kailangan maghintay ng eleksyon para magbantay, ginagawa na natin araw-araw with our territorial police deployed in different localities,” he said.
[Translation: With regards to the other concerns in security, that is part of our job. We do not have to wait for the elections to stay on guard, we do this every day with our territorial police deployed in different localities.]
Eleazar took over as PNP chief after PGen Debold Sinas reached mandatory retirement age on May 8.
He is the 26th chief and the sixth under President Rodrigo Duterte.
Watch the one-on-one interview of PNP Chief LtGen Guillermo Eleazar at 7 p.m. on CNN Philippines and live on Facebook.
