Security plans for plebiscite for creation of 8 BARMM towns set

COTABATO CITY— Security measures for the April 13 plebiscite for the creation of eight towns in 63 Bangsamoro barangays in Cotabato province in Region 12 are in place, officials said on Wednesday.

Major Gen. Alex Rillera, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, and Region 12 police director Brig. Gen. Augustus Placer had separately assured ranking officials of the Commission on Elections, among them Chairman George Erwin Garcia, that they both have enough personnel to secure the exercise during a dialogue in General Santos City on Tuesday.

The conduct of the plebiscite in the 63 Bangsamoro barangays in different towns Cotabato province is a requisite for the creation of the eight municipalities based on enabling measures approved by the 80-member parliament of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

“Our security preparations are in place. Our units in the municipalities where these 63 barangays are located have long prepared for this activity,” Rillera told reporters on Wednesday.

The 63 barangays had been grouped as BARMM's Special Geographic Area after residents voted in favor of the inclusion of their domains in the core territory of the Bangsamoro region during a referendum in 2019.

Rillera said even the governor of Cotabato, Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, who is chairperson of the provincial peace and order council, vowed her all-out support for the plebiscite security efforts of the 6th ID and the Police Regional Office-12.

“These Bangsamoro barangays are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Cotabato provincial governor, but we have her support on this plebiscite peace and security initiative,” Rillera said.