Election period begins; Palace vows peaceful, orderly polls

Malacañang vowed to ensure that the May elections would be orderly and peaceful, even as security officials warned of possible violence to be staged by communist rebels to disrupt the elections.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio said in separate interviews that President Arroyo asked her political allies to help make the coming polls credible and orderly and that she has ordered law enforcers to prevent possible violence by armed groups.

However, Ermita said there are indications that the May elections will be more peaceful than previous political exercises.

He said the PNP is finalizing a list of possible "hotspots," which he hopes will be shorter than the last list made before the 2004 national elections.

"Much would depend on the mass media to calm down the political atmosphere, especially if one highlights one or two violent incidents to a proportion that people might think there is widespread violence," he said, adding public vigilance would go a long way in preventing violence by reporting to authorities suspicious incidents.

He said: "(In) this day and age, let us show the international community that... we can lead an orderly and credible elections."

Elections in the Philippines are usually tarnished by violence. According foreign election watchdogs, over a hundred people were killed and hundreds others were wounded in campaign-related violence in the 2004 polls, but these figures are disputed by government officials.

Ermita said all indications point towards peaceful and credible elections. He also said the country’s increasing political stability and continuous improvements in the economy are contributing to the security of the coming elections, plus the fact that "this does not involve presidential elections."

Claudio said there are efforts to come up with an agreement among members and candidates of the ruling coalition as well as within administration parties and local government units (LGUs) to ensure honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

He said, beyond victory for its candidates, the credibility of the electoral process is an important matter to the administration.

"We urge all political parties to have their internal mechanism to address issues like these," Claudio said. "We will have intra-party and inter-party agreements addressing possible conflicts. Eliminating political tensions would depend a lot on the relationships between candidates and parties. If we minimize tensions from within, this would (be) a major factor (in ensuring peace)."

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales warned that the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) may increase their violent activities in the coming weeks to disrupt the elections and make their presence felt.

Gonzales said the CPP-NPA will want to portray themselves as a force to reckon with to raise more funds through extortion activities known as "revolutionary taxation" and to intimidate the opponents of their candidates in party-list groups acting as communist fronts.

He said that, based on culled reports, the CPP-NPA has liquidated over a thousand people from 2000 up to May 2006, and a majority of their victims were civilians.

Citing military intelligence reports, Gonzales said that in a span of six years, the CPP-NPA perpetrated 1,130 liquidations, resulting in the killing of 1,227 people. The victims included 384 soldiers, policemen and intelligence operatives and 843 civilians.

Most of the liquidations occurred in the CPP-NPA infested areas of Bicol, Central Luzon, Southern Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, Southern Tagalog and CARAGA, in that order. Bicol region accounted for 341 of the liquidations, or 30.1 percent of the total.

Meanwhile, 24 of the 38 provincial directors named in the revamp of the Philippine National Police (PNP) assumed office yesterday, just ahead of the start of the campaign period for the midterm elections.

Sources said the 12 other "appointed" provincial police directors could not assume office due to opposition by their respective governors, who felt bypassed by the reshuffle and wanted to have the last say on the appointment of police directors in their provinces.

The governors, through the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP), said they were against the reshuffle of the provincial directors because they were not consulted.

ULAP spokesman and Catanduanes Gov. Leandro Verceles said the PNP leadership should have informed the governors of the revamp, as provided for under the Local Government Code.

"Governors are deeply concerned with the unilateral reassignments of their PNP provincial directors without consulting them, local autonomy may be enhanced further if they have the power to retain, not only the power to appoint PNP provincial directors is exercised by the governors," Verceles said in a text message to The STAR.

Verceles said the sentiments of these governors were collated and will be elevated to PNP leadership in an effort to get the PNP leadership to reconsider the reshuffle. "If nothing happens then, the issue may need (a) presidential resolution," Verceles said.

Based on PNP records, the "appointed" police directors who were unable to assume office were those assigned to the provinces of Cagayan, Quirino, Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Capiz, Eastern Samar, Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Misamis Occidental and to Santiago City.

PNP officials, however, are addressing the complaints made by the governors over the reshuffle, sources said.

Sources also said Director Jesus Verzosa, the PNP Chief for Directorial Staff, and Chief Superintendent Nicolas Pasinos, head of the PNP Directorate for Personnel and Record Management (DPRM), met with the governors opposing the revamp. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe