PNP warns bets vs vote buying

MANILA, Philippines — With the campaign period for local positions in full swing, the Philippine National Police (PNP) yesterday warned candidates against engaging in violence, vote buying and other illegal activities to gain advantage in the elections.

In a statement, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil said police units are fully prepared to protect the democratic process and ensure a peaceful campaign period.

He reminded candidates, political parties and the public that vote buying and vote selling are serious offenses under Batas Pambansa 881, or the Omnibus Election Code, warning that those who are caught will be arrested and prosecuted.

“We will not tolerate any form of election-related violence or illegal activities that threaten the integrity of the elections,” he said.

Marbil said the first day of the local campaign period on Friday was generally peaceful as no untoward incident was reported across the country.

The PNP is on heightened alert, which means that 75 percent of the 235,000-strong police force is readily available for deployment.

The Commission on Elections has also deployed additional personnel from the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in election areas under the red and orange categories.

The country’s election areas of concern classification has four categories: green, yellow, orange and red.

Green refers to areas that do not have security concerns and are generally peaceful and orderly, while areas classified as yellow have a history of election-related incidents in the last two elections, there is also possible employment of private armed groups.

Orange category are those areas of immediate concern where there are serious armed threats.

On the other hand, red refers to areas with grave concern with combined factors under the yellow category and serious armed threats. — Rhodina Villanueva