PRO-8 readies deployment of cops to election hotspots

PALO, LEYTE, Philippines — Chief  Superintendent Asher Dolina, director of the Police Regional Office-8, said his command is now ready to deploy troops from the Regional Safety Battalion to almost 300 barangays in Eastern Visayas that will be identified as potential hotspots in the 2016 national elections.

During the 2013 polls, the PRO-8 and the Commission on Elections had classified 277 barangays in the region as hotspots due to intense political rivalry and the presence of either the communist rebels or private armed groups.

Dolina said most of these hotspots were in the three Samar provinces, 122 of which were in Northern Samar, 78 in (Western) Samar, 42 in Eastern Samar and the rest in Leyte. He added there were none in Biliran and Southern Leyte provinces.

Eastern Visayas has 4,366 barangays, which means more than six percent of them were classified in the past elections as hotspot areas, he said, but for the 2016 elections, PRO-8 has yet to complete its assessment of all barangays to do the classification and have the proper action that would ensure a peaceful poll.

Dolina said PRO-8, in coordination with the military, based in the region, has to eliminate if not reduce violence during the 2016 elections. “We are now also monitoring who are and will be the candidates, and if they have links to PAGs that would mar the peaceful elections,” he said.

In 2013 elections, some members of PAGs in Samar have surrendered but, from the later part of 2014 to early of this year, close to 200 killings were reported, including 26 barangay officials, which remained unsolved to this day due to absence of witnesses, said Dolina.

"We are still assessing if these people (PAGs) are still active and possibly cuddled by political personalities in the region,” he added. — Miriam Garcia Desacada (FREEMAN)