The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said monitoring is continuous in areas with a history of poll-related violence, in coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP), to ensure a peaceful Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) on Oct. 30. DILG Assistant Director for National Barangay Operations Office, Izza Marie Laurio, said the PNP is keeping an eye on at least 357 ‘areas of grave concern,’ majority of which are located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindandao. ‘Ang aming policy is that we will deploy po kung kailangan ng mas maraming pulis (Our policy is that we will deploy more cops if needed),’ the official said at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City. ‘We will deploy ang ating mga uniformed personnel sa mga lugar na maraming record ng karahasan, sa ating mga hot spot (We will deploy our uniformed personnel in areas where there have been records of violence, in hot spots).” Laurio said the DILG has yet to receive reports of election-related violence in Mindanao. ‘Sa aming tanggapan sa National Barangay Operations Office wala pa naman pong report na natatanggap ang aming opisina sa (In our office at the National Barangay Operations we have not received any reports as of yet) in Mindanao,’ she said in a separate interview. ‘Kaya kapag tinatanong kami kumusta ang eleksyon ngayon, although it’s still too early to compare on past elections, we can say sa ngayon mapayapa naman at sumusunod naman (This is why whenever we are asked how the election is now, although it is still early to compare, we can say it is generally peaceful),’ she said. More than 1.41 million filed certificates of candidacy for barangay captain, seats in the sangguniang barangay (kagawad), SK chair and SK council. Laurio said the DILG is ramping up its campaign to encourage more people to exercise their rights to vote and prevent both vote buying and selling.
Source: Philippines News Agency
