Pasay mayor seeks report on poll-related violence

MANILA, Philippines - To verify if Pasay should be considered an election hotspot, Mayor Wenceslao Trinidad has ordered the local police to submit a report that will cite if there are any election-related incidents in the city.

In a recent meeting, Trinidad directed Senior Superintendent Raul Petrasanta to put in writing if there are violent incidents related to the campaign or upcoming elections, or campaign that have been recorded in the city that can be used as basis for including Pasay as among those tagged as election hotspots in Metro Manila.   

The mayor said he discussed with Petrasanta security issues in the mid of ongoing campaign activities in the city.“I consulted with police authorities since I’ve been hearing comments that Pasay needs to be declared an election hotspot. They are the ones who can really give me a clear picture of the situation in Pasay. I ordered them to submit a report on the matter as soon as possible,” the mayor said. “In this manner, we will know what to do or how to respond to this kind of situation,” Trinidad said.

However, as the city mayor, Trinidad said that in his own personal view, Pasay can’t be considered an election hotspot yet. “Although, campaign activities have been continuing here, as far as I’m concerned, I don’t think that there are election-related incidents in the city,” Trinidad said adding that the local candidates have just been concentrating on how they can propagate their respective platform or agenda.

For his part, Petrasanta said their records will show that there are no violent incidents related to the campaign or elections in the city. “We have a number of election gun ban cases but these are only few. “Apart from election-related incidents, one major issue that should be looked into if we are talking of hotspots is the presence of private armed groups in the area,” he said adding that they don’t have these in Pasay.