Cops to secure Ilocos poll offices during COC filing

CAMP FLORENDO, La Union, Philippines  – Four hundred police officers will be deployed to secure the local offices of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in the Ilocos Region for the filing of certificate of candidacies (COCs) starting Monday.

Chief Superintendent Ericson Velasquez, regional police director, told The STAR that aside from rookie policemen, two senior officers would be assigned in each Comelec offices to prevent any untoward incident.

Velasquez said of the 407 officers, 246 would be assigned in Pangasinan, 58 each in La Union and Ilocos Sur, and 42 in Ilocos Norte.

He said they were still evaluating the situation in the four provinces to determine if there are areas of concern or hotspots.

“We are evaluating the incidents that transpired in the 2010 and 2013 elections,” he said, adding no incident involving private armed groups has so far occurred.