PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan – Five months before the May 2016 elections, the Philippine National Police has started validating possible poll hotspots to prevent the occurrence of election-related violence, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento said yesterday.
Sarmiento said PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez is leading the police in establishing a feedback mechanism with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to help ensure peaceful and orderly elections.
“We will be having a formal meeting to finalize the feedback mechanism with the Comelec. The PNP is a deputized agency of the Comelec during elections,” Sarmiento told journalists here.
“The director for intelligence has the list divided in three categories. I think there are seven priority provinces now while in 2013 we had 15,” Marquez said.
He refused to disclose the concerned provinces until after completion of the validation process.
Sarmiento said the process was meant to update the status of the political situation in different localities.
Marquez said initial validation indicated a downtrend in the number of election hotspots, but the police are continuing efforts to prevent the occurrence of election-related violence.
“What they are looking at are the traditional areas of concern. There were areas with few incidents, but now there are none and new areas have emerged,” Sarmiento said.
He said the traditional hotspots include Nueva Ecija, Abra, Masbate, Eastern Samar and a certain area in Cebu.
Gun ban
Marquez said the PNP would implement the Comelec gun ban starting Jan. 10 until June 8.
Earlier, Sarmiento said at least 71 private armed groups (PAGs) are being monitored by the police as election fever heats up.
He said even members of the Liberal Party would not be allowed to maintain PAGs.
Sarmiento served as LP secretary general and went on leave after President Aquino appointed him to the DILG. He urged the public to help in the campaign against PAGs.
The DILG chief said the agency has started coordinating with agencies involved in providing security during the elections
He said the DILG and the PNP are more focused on PAGs, which in the past, were being blamed for election-related violence.