BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – The Police Regional Office 6 (PRO-6) is monitoring three potential armed groups (PAGS) in Negros Occidental.
Police Colonel Gilbert Gorero, chief of PRO-6’s Regional Operations Division, did not give further details, although a reliable source told members of the media the three groups are operating in the towns of Don Salvador Benedicto, Candoni and Moises Padilla.
Gorero spoke during yesterday’s 2nd Western Visayas Regional Conference of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC-6) in this city.
RPOC-6 chairman and Negros Occidental’s Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson emphasized the importance of identifying and monitoring the groups, citing recent events in neighboring Negros Oriental. He was referring to the assassination of Gov. Roel Degamo by armed men.
Meanwhile, PRO-6 director Brigadier General Sidney Villaflor said there is a need to update the previous list of election watchlist areas (EWAS) based on the current situation in the barangay level.
Villaflor said the guidelines of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be their basis in the monitoring of armed groups in the region.
The police in the region will be vigilant as the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections draw near, he added.
The PRO-6 announced yesterday that the election period and election gun ban will be from Aug. 28, 2023 up to Nov. 29, 2023, citing the order of the Comelec earlier in the day.
Unless authorized by the Committee on the Ban on Firearms and Security Concerns (CBFSC), headed by Elections Commissioner Aimee P. Ferolino as Chairperson, the following acts are prohibited during the election period:
* to bear, carry, or transport firearms and other deadly weapons outside residence or place of business, and in all public places;
* to employ, avail, or engage the services of security personnel and bodyguards; and
* to transport or deliver firearms and explosives, including its parts, ammunition, and/or components.
The violation of any of these prohibited acts during election period constitutes an election offense punishable with imprisonment of not less than one year but not more than six years without probation, permanent disqualification to hold public office, and deprivation of the right of suffrage./PN
