No poll-related violence in Northern Mindanao – PNP

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – No election-related incident has been reported in Northern Mindanao, a police official said.

At the weekly news conference at the BusinessWeek Mindanao Media Center on Friday, Superintendent Ronnie Francis Cariaga, public information office chief of Police Regional Office-10, said peace prevails in the region despite the inclusion of three provinces as “areas of concern” in the elections and the proliferation of loose firearms.

Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon were tagged as election hotspots. An area is considered an election hotspot due to the presence of private armies, proliferation of loose firearms, intense political rivalry and the prevalence of crime and violence.

Cariaga said police confiscated 142 loose firearms since the start of the election gun ban on Jan. 13 until March 2. The firearms were seized in Bukidnon, 8; Lanao del Norte, 68; Misamis Occidental, 12; Misamis Oriental, 30; Iligan, 6; and Cagayan de Oro, 18.

Cariaga said crimes in the region were also lower from January to March at 598 compared to  650 during the same period last year.