DILG lauds cops who served as Board of Election Tellers
By AJ Siytangco
Published May 15, 2018 04:23 pm
By Chito Chavez
With the peaceful and orderly conduct of the May 14 local polls, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año commended the over 1,000 police personnel who “performed beyond the call of duty” as they served as Board of Election Tellers (BETs) in key areas in the country during the election.
Some 1,104 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were deployed in several voting centers in Mindanao, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Calabarzon to serve as BETs when the assigned teachers failed to report or backed out due to peace and order problems.
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año
(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez / MANILA BULLETIN) “The courage and selflessness of the PNP personnel who served as BET members across the country are admirable and worthy of commendation. Maraming-maraming salamat sa inyong paglilingkod,” Año said. Of the 1,104 PNP members who served as BETs, six were in Kalinga, 62 in Dasmarinas City, 14 in Zamboanga City, 144 in Lanao del Norte, 150 in Sulu, 45 in Basilan, 283 in Maguindanao, 657 in Lanao del Sur, 118 in Cotabato City, and 120 in North Cotabato. "Because of their (PNP) altruistic service as BETs, there is no failure of elections anywhere in the country yesterday. All polling centers opened and Filipinos were able to exercise their right to vote because the PNP and the military were on deck and ready to serve. That means a lot for the voters and for the country as a whole," Año added. The Election Service Reform Act and Comelec Resolution No. 10194 provide that uniformed personnel of the PNP may be deputized as a Member of the Electoral Board if the peace and order situation in the area requires it and if and there are no other qualified, willing and available persons to render election service in the affected area. According to the assessment of the PNP, the May 14 elections was “peaceful and orderly” despite the 47 “violent incidents” that were recorded since the election period began 30 days ago. The figure is less than the 57 violent incidents recorded in the 2013 barangay and SK elections that saw 33 people dead and 55 others injured. The PNP attributed the decrease in violent incidents during the poll period to intensified police operations, mainly through police response, checkpoint, gun check and search warrant operations. Earlier, the PNP has classified 597 areas in the country as red hotspots, 4,970 as orange hotspots, and 2,071 as yellow hotspots.
DILG officer-in-charge (OIC) Eduardo M. Año(AP Photo/Bullit Marquez / MANILA BULLETIN) “The courage and selflessness of the PNP personnel who served as BET members across the country are admirable and worthy of commendation. Maraming-maraming salamat sa inyong paglilingkod,” Año said. Of the 1,104 PNP members who served as BETs, six were in Kalinga, 62 in Dasmarinas City, 14 in Zamboanga City, 144 in Lanao del Norte, 150 in Sulu, 45 in Basilan, 283 in Maguindanao, 657 in Lanao del Sur, 118 in Cotabato City, and 120 in North Cotabato. "Because of their (PNP) altruistic service as BETs, there is no failure of elections anywhere in the country yesterday. All polling centers opened and Filipinos were able to exercise their right to vote because the PNP and the military were on deck and ready to serve. That means a lot for the voters and for the country as a whole," Año added. The Election Service Reform Act and Comelec Resolution No. 10194 provide that uniformed personnel of the PNP may be deputized as a Member of the Electoral Board if the peace and order situation in the area requires it and if and there are no other qualified, willing and available persons to render election service in the affected area. According to the assessment of the PNP, the May 14 elections was “peaceful and orderly” despite the 47 “violent incidents” that were recorded since the election period began 30 days ago. The figure is less than the 57 violent incidents recorded in the 2013 barangay and SK elections that saw 33 people dead and 55 others injured. The PNP attributed the decrease in violent incidents during the poll period to intensified police operations, mainly through police response, checkpoint, gun check and search warrant operations. Earlier, the PNP has classified 597 areas in the country as red hotspots, 4,970 as orange hotspots, and 2,071 as yellow hotspots.