Retired PNP, AFP officers to help Ping guard ballots

Retired police and military officers vowed yesterday to help secure the votes on May 10 of presidential hopeful Sen. Panfilo Lacson and other opponents of President Arroyo.

Speaking for his colleagues, former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Recaredo Sarmiento II said his group would soon conduct briefings and seminars on how retired PNP and military personnel could help ensure the conduct of honest, clean and orderly elections.

"We will monitor the elections, the counting and transmittal of results. We will see to it that the votes are counted. We won’t allow cheating," he said. He said they are reaching out to those in the active service to come up with a concerted effort to protect the people’s will on May 10.

However, Sarmiento said he and other retired officers would not promote violence or the threat of force in securing votes for Lacson and other opposition candidates. "We will always stick to the legal system," he stressed.

Sarmiento headed the PNP during the Ramos administration. Then President Fidel Ramos made a "deep selection" and chose him to lead the police organization because of his comparatively "clean" record. Sarmiento bypassed several senior officers.

He is provincial chairman of the Ping Lacson for President Movement for Quezon.

The presidential hopeful that Sarmiento is supporting is, like him, a former PNP chief. Lacson led the police organization for 14 months during the short-lived Estrada administration.