AFP, PNP, COMELEC: Coordination made election in Region-7 successful

CEBU, Philippines - The officials of the Commission on Election, Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines claimed that proper coordination with other government agencies made the election in Central Visayas peaceful and successful.

Sr. Supt. Vicente Loot, deputy regional director for operations, said that the challenges that came along their way during the election day were not hard enough to surmount because of coordination with other units.

“This made us aware and opened our eyes to the reality na kung mulihok diay ang mga government agencies and work hand in hand with one another, the outcome of the activity would be very, very peaceful,” Loot said.

Compared to the previous elections, this year’s elections in Central Visayas have reported lesser violence and casualty, Loot said.

For Lionel Castillano, provincial election officer, the minor lapses and technical glitches they have encountered were just minimal to affect the first automated elections in the country.

“We admit that there were minor lapses and technical glitches along the way, but para namo, dako na ni nga achievement nga paspas ang pagkahatag sa results. Thanks also sa mga voters for cooperating,” Castillano said.

Castillano said there are things that needed fine tuning.

He added that the Comelec will submit their recommendations to the national office about the things that needed fine tuning so as not to repeat the same mistakes in the next automated elections.

Major Wilson Feria, spokesperson of the Central Command of the AFP, commended all the AFP personnel who coordinated with the PNP and the Comelec that made the successful and peaceful elections possible.

Feria said there were also minor security concerns though these were all manageable.

As to the other stakeholders and community partners that helped the three units during the elections, Castillano said the Comelec has already given them their due payment.(FREEMAN NEWS)