ADDITIONAL 800 police officers would be deployed in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to augment security measures in the regions ahead of Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Philippine National Police spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said that additional manpower would be sent to BARMM given that more than 70% of the 361 areas under the red category were in the region.
“Nag-request kasi ng augmentation personnel ang regional director… kaya magpapadala tayo doon ng 800 na additional personnel,” she said.
(Because the regional director requested for augmentation personnel, we will send 800 additional personnel to BARMM.)
“Inaasahan natin na if not today ay bukas ay ipapadala na natin ‘yung initial na 150. ‘Yung remaining po ay manggagaling sa Region 10, 11, 12, pati na rin Special Action Force,” she added.
Fajardo said the 800 additional personnel did not include the augmentation from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
In total, there are 187,600 PNP personnel who would be deployed nationwide in light of the BSKE on October 30.
She said 4,400 police officers were also trained to serve as Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) for the upcoming elections. More than half of these BEIs were also deployed in BARMM.
“Kung sila ay magse-serve as BEIs, ay wala silang dalang mga baril dahil nasa loob mismo sila ng mga polling centers natin. Although ‘yung nasa labas na mga pulis natin ay merong mga armas,” Fajardo said.
metrosundaily
