NCRPO monitoring 5 cities for possible outbreak of violence

MANILA, Philippines - With four days left before the May 10 elections, the National Capital Regional Police Office is closely monitoring developments in five cities in Metro Manila where the political battle is highly contested to prevent the outbreak of violence.

“We are presently in the mode of closely watching the political developments in the five cities in the metropolis where the campaign is hotly contested,” said NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales.

Rosales identified the areas as the cities of Manila, Taguig, Makati, Caloocan and Pasay.

Earlier, the Directorate for Intelligence of the Philippine National Police declared that there are nine cities in Metro Manila dubbed as “areas of concern” due to the occurrence of election-related violent incidents in the last elections.

But Rosales said they delisted the cities of Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Quezon and Marikina because of the absence of intense political rivalries among local candidates.

The NCRPO chief said he will deploy an additional 300 police and military personnel each in the cities of Pasay, Makati, Manila and Taguig while only 200 in Caloocan City to prevent the outbreak of violence among supporters of politicians. He said the National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under Admiral Feliciano Angue has committed eight battalions of soldiers for the security of Metro Manila during the poll exercise.

Additional police, military personnel

“We will be deploying additional police and military personnel in the five cities upon the request of politicians and the district directors having jurisdiction over them,” Rosales told The STAR.

According to Rosales, the delivery of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and voting paraphernalia in their Central hub in Tandang Sora in Quezon City has been finalized. He said he is now waiting for a directive from laywer Michael Dioneda, of the National Capital Region of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) before distributing them to 743 polling precincts in Metro Manila days before the elections.

Rosales said his office has yet to record a single election-related incident in the metropolis with the elections barely five days away.

The NCRPO is on heightened alert since yesterday and Rosales said they would deploy at least 10 uniformed policemen in every polling precinct to safeguard the ballots and prevent any untoward incidents among supporters of candidates. He added that elements of the Motorcycle Anti-Street Crime Operatives (MASCO) will patrol the streets and respond to any call of assistance on poll-related violence.

Meanwhile, Mayor Feliciano “Sonny” Belmonte yesterday cried foul over the inclusion of Quezon City in the police’s list of election hot spots in Metro Manila.

Belmonte issued the statement during yesterday’s executive staff meeting at city hall. He maintained there has been no reported incident of election-related violence in the city leading to the May 10 elections.

The city mayor wondered why Quezon City was included in the list of hot spots in the metropolis. Belmonte is running for congressman in the fourth district of Quezon City.

Tadeo Palma, secretary to the mayor, said Belmonte addressed the concern to the newly installed director of the Quezon City Police District, Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele.

The NCRPO has listed seven cities in the metropolis as “election hot spots.” These are Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Taguig, Makati, Pasay, Manila and Quezon City.

According to Palma, Belmonte was concerned that such might result in the military deploying its forces in the city even if it is not needed. However, Palma said Mantele gave the assurance that such would not happen in Quezon City. – With Reinir Padua