Eastern Visayas police lauded for peaceful polls

PALO, Leyte, May 17  -- The Police Regional Office 8 (Eastern Visayas) here has lauded its men for ensuring a peaceful and orderly conduct of village and youth council elections in the region.

PRO-8 recalled its 990-member augmentation force on Thursday after securing the local elections in the region’s six provinces and seven cities.

“Peaceful elections were achieved because you were on the ground. You were with the people to secure them. As officials, our job is to supervise, guide, and direct, but all the hard work came from you. We are thankful for your sacrifices and for what you did to ensure that the election is peaceful and secure,” PRO-8 Director Chief Supt. Gilberto Cruz said during the welcome ceremony at the regional headquarters Thursday.

Most of these uniformed men were assigned to Samar towns and Calbayog City, which are known for election-related violence in the past.

Monday’s balloting in Calbayog was peaceful, with zero violence on Election Day itself and only one poll-related incident during the entire election period, according to the police.

“The visibility of hundreds of police and military helped a lot in deterring any crime during the election. More voters exercised their right to vote as we addressed security concerns,” Cruz added.

Calbayog city election officer Dainty Calagos told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that unlike in the past, there was no report of ballot snatching, failure of elections, and threats to members of the electoral board.

Calagos thanked the police and Army for securing all the ballot boxes from the remote villages of Kalilihan, Canhumadac, Higasaan, Hibatang, Mancol, Naguma, Olera, Patong, Pinamototan, Mabini 1, San Isidro and Dinawacan.

Law enforcers escorted the transport of these boxes to the city elections office.

“Voters appreciate the high level of professionalism, politeness, and firmness of our policemen and military assigned in the city on Election Day,” Calagos said on Wednesday.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) regional office said Monday’s polls were the most peaceful in the region in the past two decades.

“In the past, we already anticipated that there would be failure of election even before the election day due to threats to the members of the electoral board,” Comelec Regional Director Jose Nick Mendros said on Wednesday.

Mendros said the election was generally peaceful although it was not smooth in some areas due to disorganized precincts, absence of names on the voter’s list, vote-buying reports, gun ban violations, minor arguments, and brief power interruptions. (RTA/JB/PNA)