BAGUIO CITY (PIA) - - The Police Regional Office – Cordillera and the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army affirm  their readiness  to ensure a safe, peaceful and orderly October 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election (BSKE).

PRO – Cor Regional Director BGen  David Peredo Jr. and 5ID Commander MGen Audrey Pasia in the October 23 meeting of the Regional Joint Security Command Center (RJSCC) assured that   their security deployment plan that is all set for implementation.

 “Your PNP and the Army are  working together. Nag-kakaisa – po tayo under the COMELEC. Ang inyo pong kapulisan and your Army, we would like to ensure that this election will be  honest, peaceful and orderly,” Peredo  said.

“Gagawin namin yung duty naming ayon sa guidance at directives ng COMELEC, at susunod kami sa rules and regulation na sinusunod namin sa engagement. Papalakasin din naming  ang coordination with other partner agencies dahil sa trabahong ito, hindi lang pulis ang nagta-trabaho. Serbisyong nagkaka-isa po tayo tulong – tulong po tayo”, Peredo added.

The PRO – Cor reported a total of 8,962 police and Army personnel  will be tapped to safeguard the BSKE election  with almost 6,000 deployed to man the 1,405 polling centers and the different provincial, municipal, city COMELEC hubs. Others are assigned for border controls, COMELEC checkpoints, election  logistics and transport security, quick reactions teams and for standby support.

In the  Cordillera, there are 1,094,183 registered voters for the barangay level and 367,886 registered voters for the SK level.  

The PRO – Cor expects a generally peaceful BSKE in Cordillera with only 40 barangays in  nine  municipalities of Abra and one in Kalinga under the election area of concern yellow category out of the 1,178 barangays in the region.

Meanwhile, COMELEC  Regional Election Officer Atty. Julius Torres reiterated his appeal to the PNP, Army and other law enforcement agencies, to safeguard and uphold the people’s right to vote.

“Our appeal to PNP, AFP and other law enforcement agencies, protect the voters, protect the poll workers and protect the ballots,” Torres stressed.

 He also appealed to the voters to go out and vote and choose the right leaders for their community.

Para sa publiko, pagdating ng eleksyon sana bumoto po tayo. Huwag po nating sabihin na ito ay barangay election lamang. Ang barangay officials po ang tutulong sa atin kapag may problema tayo sa ating komyunidad. Let us go out and vote”, he added. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)