COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Two top military officials and local executives are confident the Army's 6th Infantry Division, along with the police, can efficiently secure polling sites in politically-troubled areas during the September 14 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections.
There are election hotspots in Maguindanao del Sur and Maguindanao del Norte provinces, both in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and in the eight municipalities in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area under the BARMM government but are inside Cotabato, a component province of Region 12, all under 6th ID's jurisdiction.
The 6th ID is also securing, along with the 6th Marine Battalion of the Philippine Navy, the 36 barangays in Cotabato City, which is BARMM's regional capital. BARMM also covers the provinces Lanao del Sur and Basilan, where there are units of the Army's 1st Infantry Division, and Tawi-Tawi, which is being secured by other military units under the Western Mindanao Command.
Officials of 6th ID reported to Lt. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the Philippine Army, and Armed Forces chief of staff Lt. Gen. Antonio Nafarrete, during a conference on Wednesday, August 26, at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao del Norte that their units are now ready for election security missions, under the supervision of the Commission on Elections.
The commander of the Western Mindanao Command, Major Gen. Jose Vladimir Cagara, and other officials in the offices of Nafarrete and Gumiran were also present in the meeting.
Nafarrete and Gumiran had both served, one after another, as commander of 6th ID, whose units include the 601st, 602nd and 603rd Infantry Brigades and more than a dozen battalions. The 6th ID also has operational control over the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade covering parts of Sultan Kudarat province.
Gumiran told reporters on Friday that they are thankful to local executives in Maguindanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte and in the Bangsamoro Special Geographic Area and to Bangsamoro regional officials, among them Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua and Regional Local Government Minister Jordan Bayam, for supporting extensively the division’s September 14 election security thrusts.
“The preparations of the 6th Infantry Division for the September 14 Bangsamoro elections had been laid. We appreciate the support of local government units and officials of the Bangsamoro government to make it strong and effective,” Gumiran said.
Soldiers from the 10th, 4th and 1st Infantry Divisions, based in Mawab, Davao de Oro, Cagayan de Oro City and in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, respectively, had arrived in batches in the 6th ID’s area of responsibility to help secure polling sites on September 14.
The acting commander of 6th D, Brig. Gen. Ricky Bunayog, told reporters on Friday that plans meant to ensure the prompt delivery of election paraphernalia to far-flung polling centers by Comelec personnel and their safety while overseeing the elections are among the topics discussed during their conference with Nafarrete and Gumiran at Camp Siongco, where the division’s headquarters is located.
“All of our election-related peacekeeping operations shall be done under the direct supervision of the Comelec,” Bunayog said.
Officials of 6th ID had earlier assured to adhere to the Comelec’s policy against any possible bribery by shrewd political quarters of policemen, soldiers and poll personnel to side with candidates during elections.
They separately assured Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia of their commitment to adhere to the poll body’s “Kontra-Bigay Campaign” during their dialogue with him and his subordinate Comelec officials and representatives from independent election monitoring groups in Cotabato City last Tuesday.