MANILA, Philippines - Metro police chief Director Roberto Rosales said yesterday that all police patrol vehicles to be used to transport 7,555 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, 6.13 million ballots, ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia to 743 polling precincts in Metro Manila will be equipped with global positioning system (GPS) tracking device for close monitoring.
Rosales said the vehicles are already equipped with GPS tracking device to ensure that the security convoy strictly follows the schedule and route provided by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and to enable an immediate response should any untoward incident occur. He said the hauling of PCOS machines, ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia from the Comelec warehouse to the regional hub and then to the polling precincts will start on April 28.
The police team tasked to secure the convoy will come from the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) strike force, the Regional Public Safety Management Battalion (RPSMB). He said the security personnel are equipped with digital-trunked radios and high-powered firearms and will be headed by an officer acting as the convoy commander.
Rosales said that the cargo trucks containing PCOS machines and election paraphernalia will be led and tailed by patrol vehicles. The local police that has jurisdiction on the area along the route on which the convoy will pass have been tasked to provide additional security using their patrol personnel and tactical deployment teams.
The NCRPO director assured the public that the police, together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which were deputized by the Comelec will implement measures that are designed to guarantee the integrity of the ballots.
“Keeping the PCOS machines and the ballots safe and secured is just one of our many tasks so that we could have an honest, orderly and peaceful elections here in Metro Manila. The employment of GPS tracking device will greatly help us in monitoring the PCOS machines every time that they are moved from the hub to the polling centers and vice versa,” Rosales said.
The NCRPO has setup its Regional Elections Monitoring Action Center inside its modern Regional Tactical Operations and Intelligence Center. From its remote site inside Camp Bagong Diwa, the REMAC will receive all election-related information from the different district offices and police stations.