BACOLOD City – This capital city is all set for today’s barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.
There were 27 City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) personnel commissioned to distribute and retrieve ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia for the polls.
City Treasurer Giovanni Balalilhi said the Commission on Elections deputized the Department of Finance, to which the CTO is under, for the safekeeping, distribution and retrieval of the poll paraphernalia.
Balalilhi said some personnel from the General Services Office and the City Engineering Office will help his staff in the distribution and retrieval of the ballots.
There are 47 polling precincts in Bacolod.
The Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO) has deployed over 500 police personnel to secure these precincts.
Each polling precinct will have six assigned security personnel along with members of the quick reaction teams from 10 police stations in the city, BCPO spokeswoman Senior Inspector Armilyn Vargas said.
The Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (Nocppo) is also ready to secure the conduct of elections in the province.
Nocppo spokeswoman Inspector Charmae De Paz said patrol cars, high-powered firearms and assorted ammunition were given to two provincial mobile force companies to respond to potential threats from rebels and other armed groups.
Nocppo director Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Castil Jr. instructed his personnel to protect the right of the people to suffrage by immediately responding to armed groups that are terrorizing voters.
“Maximum force will be applied if they (armed groups) refuse to surrender,” Castil said.
Castil also urged the public to report vote-buying activities through the Provincial Election Monitoring Action Center’s number 09998236744.
Castil also reminded all police personnel in Negros Occidental to remain “neutral and nonpartisan” this election period./PN
