Military ready to help secure BSKE in Negros Oriental — AFP Viscom

The Armed Forces Visayas Command (Viscom) on Tuesday said it is prepared to help concerned agencies in securing the Barangay and Sangguninang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in Negros Oriental.

“We have a contingency for this situation. We have been planning and making necessary coordination since March of this year,” Viscom commander Lieutenant General Benedict Arevalo said in a statement.

“We are prepared and have enough personnel to support the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in ensuring the peaceful and safe conduct of the BSKE in Negros Oriental,” he added.

The polls in Negros Oriental will push through on October 30 despite the appeals for its postponement due to reported political violence, Comelec chairperson George Garcia said Monday.

Garcia, however, pointed out that the entire province will be placed under the control of the Comelec and necessary guidelines on how this will be implemented will be released soon.

“Patungkol sa Negros Oriental, ang Comelec en banc ay nag-desisyon unanimously—tuloy ang eleksyon sa October 30, pero ilalagay namin sa Comelec control ang buong probinsya,” Garcia said at a press conference.

(Regarding Negros Oriental, the Comelec en banc decided unanimously that the elections will continue on October 30, but we will put the entire province under Comelec control.)

“Minarapat ng inyong Comelec na ituloy ito sapagkat base sa nakalap namin na mga papeles, dokumento, ebidensya mula sa lugar kung saan nagkaron ng tatlong araw na pagdinig ang Comelec, napatunayan namin overwhelmingly, na talaga namang gusto ng kababayan natin doon na tumuloy ang eleksyon sa October 30,” he added.

(The Comelec decided to push through with this because based on the papers, documents, and evidence we gathered from the place where the Comelec held a three-day hearing, we found out that people overwhelmingly want the election to continue on October 30.)

Coordinate with PNP

Arevalo said Viscom will coordinate with the PNP for a harmonized deployment and security plan as well as with Comelec for the measures that will be implemented in Negros Oriental.

“Rest assured that our security efforts will never waver. Viscom, being your reliable Armed Forces in the Visayas will remain highly committed to our mandate on ensuring the safety and security of our people In Negros Oriental, as they exercise their rights this coming election,” he said.

On March 4, Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo and five others were killed as armed men fired shots while the official was distributing aid at his residence in Pamplona. The death toll has climbed to 10.

The PNP on September 15 said it is looking at 249 barangays that may be considered as election areas of concern under the red category, which may be placed under Comelec control.

So far, the PNP has monitored a total of 35 incidents of violence suspected to be related to the upcoming elections.

Of the total number, only four have been validated to be connected to the polls while 19 have been validated to be unrelated to the elections. The 12 remaining incidents are still undergoing a validation process. — Joviland Rita/RSJ, GMA Integrated News