Solcom deploys more troops for poll duties

MANILA, Philippines — Additional troops from the the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) have been deployed to secure the elections tomorrow.

In a statement issued yesterday, Solcom said it deployed more than 200 well-equipped soldiers to reinforce the regular forces initially deployed.

Solcom chief Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro asked the troops to “provide utmost support to ensure a secure, accurate and fair elections before, during and after the actual voting day on May 9.”

He stressed the need for soldiers to keep the trust of Filipinos.

“The importance of communication and synergy of the organization with other government agencies was also emphasized in order to ensure the accomplishment of the mission on hand,” the statement read.

Quick reaction and civil disturbance management teams were also placed on standby at Camp Nakar.

In a separate statement, the Philippine Army said it readied around 400 troops as part of the elections contingency force.

The contingency force is composed of civil disturbance management, K-9, explosive ordnance disposal, ambu-medic and chemical as well as biological, radiological and nuclear teams.

Solcom initially deployed nearly 4,000 soldiers to serve as augmentation forces for the elections.

Security for voting inmates

Meanwhile, security measures are in place for 33,409 inmates under the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) who will cast their vote tomorrow.

Up to 2,683 of the inmates will vote outside their detention cells.

BJMP chief Allan Iral led the launching of the bureau’s  Oplan Tutok Halalan yesterday to ensure the security of inmates who are registered voters.

“Magkakaroon kami ng real- time situation reports galing sa field tungkol sa PDL (persons deprived of liberty) voting whether onsite or offsite,” Iral told a press conference.

Data from the BJMP showed that 822 of the offsite voters are in Zamboanga peninsula, 241 in Western Visayas and  229 in Central Visayas.

BJMP spokesman Supt. Xavier Solda said offsite voting are for jails with less than 50 inmates who are registered voters.

Those who are voting offsite will be escorted to polling precincts and must be covered by a corresponding court order. They will be guided to special lanes in polling places.

Inmates at the Cebu City  jail has the highest number of registered voters at 1,102 followed by Talisay, 878; Lapu-Lapu, 701; Antipolo, 651, and Bacoor, 534.

Iral directed jail wardens in 24 towns and four cities placed under the control of the Commission on Elections to step up security, especially for offsite voters.

“They are directed to declare commensurate alert status before, during and after election day,” he said.

Inmates can only vote for president, vice president and a party-list group. – Emmanuel Tupas