MANILA, Philippines — Negros Island and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) are under close watch ahead of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in October, according to the Philippine National Police.
PNP chief Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr. said the two areas have been the subject of discussions with officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and other concerned agencies.
The BARMM has been known for conflicts among politicians.
Negros is in the limelight following the killing of Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo and nine other people.
The PNP is monitoring 38 potential private armed groups and four active PAGs across the country.
Acorda said 48,599 loose firearms had been recovered while 14,598 people were arrested in police operations as part of the preparations for the BSKE.
“We are intensifying our operations on matters that we think would contribute in coming up with a peaceful and honest elections,” he said.
1,000 ‘usable’ VCMs
Meanwhile, the Comelec said the remaining 1,000 “usable” vote counting machines or VCMs will be used for the pilot-testing of automated BSKE in three barangays in Cavite and Quezon City.
Comelec Chairman George Garcia said a technical evaluation committee had certified the machines as “still usable.”
Some of the machines were used during the automated mock elections held yesterday at the Pintong Gubat Elementary School and Paliparan Elemetary School in Barangay Paliparan 3 and Dasmariñas Elementary School in Barangay Zone II in Dasmariñas, Cavite.
In Quezon City, the mock polls were held at the Pasong Tamo Elementary School in Barangay Tandang Sora and Judge Feliciano Belmonte Sr. High School in Barangay Holy Spirit.
Garcia said the Comelec is pilot-testing automated voting in the three barangays to ensure that the poll body is ready in case the next barangay and SK polls will be automated.
He said there is no guarantee that the VCMs will not malfunction as these machines are old.
There were reports of minor glitches such as paper jams during the mock polls held yesterday.
In Zamboanga peninsula, 6,685 police personnel will be deployed to ensure safe and peaceful elections.
Zamboanga peninsula police director Lt. Col. Helen Galvez said there was only one identified hot spot in Zamboanga del Norte during the previous elections. — Roel Pareño
