Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. — Photo from PNP/Facebook
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday maintained that it had yet to monitor any security threat to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary elections as the gun ban began ahead of the polls.
In a statement, PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. assured that the law enforcement agency had established checkpoints to implement the ban on firearms from July 16 to September 29.
“The PNP has not monitored any security threat since the start of the gun ban in BARMM in preparation for the parliamentary elections in September,” Nartatez said.
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READ: Marcos OKs AFP, PNP deputation for peaceful BARMM elections
“Police officers will… maintain a strong presence at checkpoints across the region to deter possible threats and preserve peace and order in communities throughout the election period,” he added.
The top cop’s statement came after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. authorized the Commission on Elections’ deputation of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines as part of security preparations for the BARMM elections.
Marcos’ authorization came through Memorandum Order No. 48 issued on July 1 and made publicly available on July 16.
“Our police officers will strengthen their partnership with local government units, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Commission on Elections to ensure orderly preparations and the peaceful conduct of the parliamentary elections,” Nartatez said.
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In a separate statement, the PNP Public Information Office said the national police force was deploying 8,299 personnel for the polls, of which 4,983 were from the Police Regional Office-BARMM; 1,316 from the national support units; and 2,000 from other police regional offices.
PNP public information chief Col. Allen Rae Co previously said the agency deployed an initial batch of 3,316 personnel.
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“We have long prepared for this historic election in BARMM and the additional manpower and cooperation of our local stakeholders serve as an assurance that we would deliver the end goal of protecting all our kababayan in the region to exercise their right to vote peacefully,” Nartatez stressed. /das
